Honey Cookies

Honey cookies are popular sweet in the Balkan, they are sold in many varietes, but I'll show you how to make homemade honey cookies, which are very tasty.

Recipe:

1 egg

50 gr grounded wallnuts

300 gr flour

100 gr oil

100 gr sugar

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon baking powder (or baking soda)

1 teaspoon vanila exctract (or vanila sugar)

1 and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven on 200 degrees Celsius.

With a mixer beat the egg and the sugar until the sugar is disolved and the mixture is light yellow and double the size.

Add the oil and the honey and mix until combined. And the wallnuts, vanila, cinnamon and mix with a spoon until combined.

Mix the baking powder with the flour and add it to the egg mixture and mix. Take out the dough and knead it. You should have soft dough.

If the dough is too sticky add little more flour, if it's too hard, little bit water. Flour the working surface and roll out the dough in 1/2 to 1 cm thickness.

With a cookie shape or a cup take out circles (or other shapes). Place them on a greased baking sheet (or lined with baking paper) but leave some space between them because they tend to rise.

Bake them 15-20 minutes until they're brownish and the edges are also brown.

Cool the cookies and then you can eat them as they are, sprinkle them with powder sugar or dip them in melted chocolate.

Great with coffee or tea. Yum :-)

Poppy Seed Cake

This is a very simple recipe of poppy seed cake. It's moist and sweet.

Recipe:

250gr flour

125ml milk

150gr sugar

125gr oil

100gr poppy seeds

1 teaspoon of vanila extract, or 1 tablespoon vanila sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. In a mixing bowl mix the milk with the sugar, untill the sugar is disolved. Add the oil and the vanila. Mix the flour with the baking powder and add it into the wet ingredients. Mix well and add the poppy seeds. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture in greased baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes (until it's brownish at the sides and a toothpick comes clear from the center). Don't over bake it, or the cake will dry out.

You can glaze it with molten chocolate, jam or sift some powder sugar on top.

If you don't like milk, or if you're fasting (Great Lent - Orthodox) for Easter you can substitute it with water, just again don't over bake it, cause it tends to dry out little more when it's with water.