You know how I feel about grandma recipes. These caraway tea cookies check that box.
Grandma recipes though, they are my faaaave, and so I felt like I hit the jackpot when my friend Rugelach passed on a cookbook of her friend’s grandma’s Moroccan family recipes. Because, man, do I also just love Moroccan food.
As I paged through, I was surprised by how simple so many of the recipes were. Though, when thinking about it further, I’m not sure why I was since, in my experience, my own grandmother’s recipes were simple, too. They existed without the help of instapots or slow cookers, sous vide contraptions or spiralizers. In many cases, all it took was a bowl, a wooden spoon, a rolling pin and a bit of elbow grease.
And that brings to this recipe for caraway tea cookies.
I chose this recipe from the book because I was bored this weekend. The weather outside was hideous, and with chores done, meals prepped and books read, I needed something to do. These came together quickly and with minimal ingredients. And even minimal elbow grease.
One point about these that might make you shake your head is the caraway. I love caraway seeds, which explains why I love rye bread and sauerkraut and German food. Put them in a cookie? Sure.
Also, these cookies boast no butter, but rather oil. I used olive (the recipe didn’t specify), and while usually olive oil does NOT typically belong in cookies, I figured with the caraway we were toeing the savory line, and I went for it. The result was very nice, and the perfect accompaniment for afternoon tea.
I did tweak this grandma recipe a bit: besides the olive oil, I topped them with both raw sugar before the bake, and powdered sugar after it. Just to add a bit more sweet to this sweet.
Caraway Tea Cookies
Caraway Tea Cookies are a grandma recipe, straight from the middle east, shortbread in spirit but with an unexpected addition
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 TB baking powder
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 1/4 + 2 TB all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1/3 cup raw sugar
- 4 TB powdered sugar
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 250F. (Yes, 250F)
- Step 2 In a small bowl, add the eggs, oil and granulated sugar. Beat until well combined, and add the caraway seeds and mix again. Add the baking powder and the flour until a soft dough forms (the dough should not be sticky).
- Step 3 To a dry surface, add some flour and turn the dough out onto it. Flour your rolling pin, and roll the dough out to about 1/4″ thick. Use a 3″ biscuit cutter or drinking glass to cut the dough into circles. Gather the dough together and repeat until all the dough has been cut.
- Step 4 Empty the raw sugar onto a plate, and press the top of each cookie into it so that a thin layer of sugar sticks to each.
- Step 5 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the cookies to the tray, about 1″ apart (they will not spread significantly). Bake 30 minutes until firm and slightly golden (they will not get too brown). Sprinkle baked cookies with powdered sugar.
- Step 6 Let cool a wire rack and store in an airtight container.
