OBARINKY COOKIES
ТІСТЕЧКА ОБАРІНКИ
My Teta Baba's recipe collection included three different recipes for a type of cookie called "obarinky". These are old-fashioned cookies, and I don't think anyone makes them anymore in Ukraine or in the diaspora. These are delicate, not very sweet cookies, made of rolled-out dough cut into doughnut shapes, with almonds and sugar on top. The dough is crisp, like крухе тісто. Lemon zest gives it a hint of lemon flavor.
I tried out all three recipes in the collection. After diligent taste-testing by my family (including by some members old enough to remember what these cookies should taste like), I chose this recipe, and made some modifications to suit our tastes today. The other two recipes are summarized at the bottom of the blog entry.
Here's a photo of the winning Obarinky recipe (#26), as originally typed up by my Teta Baba. It is attributed to Ika Melnyk, who is also credited with another recipe I adapted in a previous blog entry - walnut torte (see that blog entry for details about the recipe collection itself):
I tried out all three recipes in the collection. After diligent taste-testing by my family (including by some members old enough to remember what these cookies should taste like), I chose this recipe, and made some modifications to suit our tastes today. The other two recipes are summarized at the bottom of the blog entry.
Here's a photo of the winning Obarinky recipe (#26), as originally typed up by my Teta Baba. It is attributed to Ika Melnyk, who is also credited with another recipe I adapted in a previous blog entry - walnut torte (see that blog entry for details about the recipe collection itself):
The recipe translates thus:
26. Obarinky from Ika
12 dkg flour,1 cooked egg yolk, 8 dkg butter, 4 dkg sugar, lemon zest. Mix and chill for an hour. Cut out obarinky, give them an egg-white wash, and sprinkle with sugar and 3 dkg chopped almonds.
Here's my updated version, with volume equivalencies for the weight measurements ("dkg" stands for dekagrams, or 10 grams). I add almond extract to punch up the flavor (or you can add vanilla). Instead of using chopped almonds as the topping, I prefer to arrange sliced almonds in a wreath or ring shape, as in the photo at the top, to increase the visual appeal.
Click HERE to download a printable version.
**Keep scrolling down for step-by-step instructions with photos.**
Obarinky recipe:
Dough:
12 dkg. flour (about 1 cup)
1 egg yolk, cooked
8 dkg. butter (about 5 1/2 Tbsp.), softened
4 dkg. sugar (less than 1/4 c)
zest from 1 lemon
optional: 1/4-1/2 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract
Topping:
1 egg white
Almonds (sliced, slivered, or chopped)
Coarse sugar
To cook the egg yolk, separate the egg, save the egg white for the topping, slide the egg yolk into simmering water for about 2 minutes until cooked; you can press the cooked yolk through a sieve, or just put it in the mixing bowl with the other ingredients – it won’t be quite as evenly distributed, but will work just fine.
Mix flour, egg yolk, softened butter, sugar, lemon zest, and almond extract. Mix into a smooth dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Roll out dough about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Dough should be easy to work with. Reroll scraps and continue cutting out cookies until no dough is left.
Cut out doughnut-shaped cookies. (I used Wilton’s Round Cutter set, but a linzer cookie cutter would work well too).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place cookies onto lined baking sheet. They don’t spread much at all, so you can position them fairly close together.
Use a pastry brush or other tool to give the cookie tops an egg-white wash.
Immediately place almonds on cookie surface as desired (for sliced almonds, you can do a wreath design; for slivered almonds, you could do a flower pattern).
Sprinkle cookie surface heavily with the coarse sugar. (If using chopped almonds, you can mix them with the sugar at about a 1:1 ratio before sprinkling).
Bake at 350 F for 10 min.
Cool briefly, remove to plate.
Cookies taste better the next day.
26. Obarinky from Ika
12 dkg flour,1 cooked egg yolk, 8 dkg butter, 4 dkg sugar, lemon zest. Mix and chill for an hour. Cut out obarinky, give them an egg-white wash, and sprinkle with sugar and 3 dkg chopped almonds.
Here's my updated version, with volume equivalencies for the weight measurements ("dkg" stands for dekagrams, or 10 grams). I add almond extract to punch up the flavor (or you can add vanilla). Instead of using chopped almonds as the topping, I prefer to arrange sliced almonds in a wreath or ring shape, as in the photo at the top, to increase the visual appeal.
Click HERE to download a printable version.
**Keep scrolling down for step-by-step instructions with photos.**
Obarinky recipe:
Dough:
12 dkg. flour (about 1 cup)
1 egg yolk, cooked
8 dkg. butter (about 5 1/2 Tbsp.), softened
4 dkg. sugar (less than 1/4 c)
zest from 1 lemon
optional: 1/4-1/2 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract
Topping:
1 egg white
Almonds (sliced, slivered, or chopped)
Coarse sugar
To cook the egg yolk, separate the egg, save the egg white for the topping, slide the egg yolk into simmering water for about 2 minutes until cooked; you can press the cooked yolk through a sieve, or just put it in the mixing bowl with the other ingredients – it won’t be quite as evenly distributed, but will work just fine.
Mix flour, egg yolk, softened butter, sugar, lemon zest, and almond extract. Mix into a smooth dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Roll out dough about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Dough should be easy to work with. Reroll scraps and continue cutting out cookies until no dough is left.
Cut out doughnut-shaped cookies. (I used Wilton’s Round Cutter set, but a linzer cookie cutter would work well too).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place cookies onto lined baking sheet. They don’t spread much at all, so you can position them fairly close together.
Use a pastry brush or other tool to give the cookie tops an egg-white wash.
Immediately place almonds on cookie surface as desired (for sliced almonds, you can do a wreath design; for slivered almonds, you could do a flower pattern).
Sprinkle cookie surface heavily with the coarse sugar. (If using chopped almonds, you can mix them with the sugar at about a 1:1 ratio before sprinkling).
Bake at 350 F for 10 min.
Cool briefly, remove to plate.
Cookies taste better the next day.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS AND PHOTOS
Here are the ingredients you will need, already measured out:
cooked egg yolk, raw egg white, flour, sugar, butter, lemon zest, almond extract, and sliced almonds. You'll also need coarse sugar for the topping (which I forgot to put in the photo).
Here are the ingredients you will need, already measured out:
cooked egg yolk, raw egg white, flour, sugar, butter, lemon zest, almond extract, and sliced almonds. You'll also need coarse sugar for the topping (which I forgot to put in the photo).
Let's get started. The original recipe uses weights instead of volume measurements, so I'll show you how I made the conversion. You need a kitchen scale here (the King Arthur Flour website has a few different scales you can buy, or try other websites). You can use any bowl or other container for measuring (I'm using a quarter-cup measure because I already have a good idea of what volume I'll need for the sugar). But you need to zero it out - this means you put the empty container on the scale, and then turn the scale on - this ensures that you're not including the container's weight when you weigh the ingredient itself.
In the left photo above, you can see I've zeroed out the scale, so that it says "O" when I turn it on with the container already on it. The little "g" shows the scale is set to grams instead of ounces. Then I start filling the container with sugar. The recipe calls for "4 dkg" of sugar, or 4 dekagrams, which is the same as 40 grams. So I fill the container until the scale indicates 40 grams, and this turns out to be a little less than a quarter cup.
Different ingredients will have different weights for the same volume, so I need to repeat the process for the flour. 12 dkg of flour (120 grams) turns out to be just about 1 cup of flour.
8 dkg of butter (80 grams) turns out to be about 5 1/2 Tablespoons. The paper wrapper is pretty light, so I didn't bother zeroing out the scale for this.
Different ingredients will have different weights for the same volume, so I need to repeat the process for the flour. 12 dkg of flour (120 grams) turns out to be just about 1 cup of flour.
8 dkg of butter (80 grams) turns out to be about 5 1/2 Tablespoons. The paper wrapper is pretty light, so I didn't bother zeroing out the scale for this.
Now we'll move on to the cooked egg yolk. Many Ukrainian recipes involve cooked egg yolks pressed through a sieve - cheese paska (сирна паска), crisp doughs (крухе тісто), etc. For these cooked egg yolks, you can just hard-boil whole eggs, and then discard the cooked whites.
But since this recipe calls for one raw egg white for the topping, it's nice if you can just cook the yolk on its own and save the white uncooked (quicker, too!)
To do that, separate the yolk from the white (try to keep the yolk whole), and save the white for later. Boil some water in a small pot, and slide in the yolk gently. Let it cook for about 2 minutes (or up to 3 minutes). Remove the cooked yolk with a spoon, and let it cool.
But since this recipe calls for one raw egg white for the topping, it's nice if you can just cook the yolk on its own and save the white uncooked (quicker, too!)
To do that, separate the yolk from the white (try to keep the yolk whole), and save the white for later. Boil some water in a small pot, and slide in the yolk gently. Let it cook for about 2 minutes (or up to 3 minutes). Remove the cooked yolk with a spoon, and let it cool.
You can press the cooked yolk through a sieve, as in the first two pictures below - use a spoon, or anything else that's kind of broad and flat.
Or you can just break the yolk up with your fingers into the other dough ingredients, as in the third photo below, and let the mixer break it up some more. The yolk bits will be more visible in the dough and won't seem to be mixed in as well, but for this recipe, the end product is the same.
Or you can just break the yolk up with your fingers into the other dough ingredients, as in the third photo below, and let the mixer break it up some more. The yolk bits will be more visible in the dough and won't seem to be mixed in as well, but for this recipe, the end product is the same.
Let's get started with the rest of the ingredients. The photo below left shows the flour with the egg yolk pressed through a sieve. Below right, I've added the softened butter and the sugar.
For the lemon zest, I like to use a microplane grater, but citrus zesters work great too. Be sure to use only the yellow part of the lemon skin, as the white pith is bitter. Zest the whole lemon, and add it to your mixer bowl. (You can save the lemon itself for another use - slice it and add it to your water glass, or squeeze it along with more lemons for lemonade; but you'll need to use it within a day or so since it will dry out more quickly than a lemon with an intact peel).
I definitely recommend adding almond extract (or vanilla extract) to increase the cookie's flavor. A half teaspoon of extract gives more flavor but can taste a bit alcoholy, while a quarter teaspoon is a bit too subtle, so choose an amount that suits your taste - probably 1/3 teaspoon is optimal. Use a good quality extract (like Neilsen-Massey).
Now that we have all the dough ingredients in the bowl, we mix until it all starts to stick together. You can squeeze it in your fingers and it will stick together fairly well. The cooked egg yolk is visible in the dough (more so if you didn't use the sieve method).
We need to chill the dough for about an hour before rolling it out. Place it on some plastic wrap, spread it out a bit, wrap, and press it out some more. Chilling dough in a flattened form gives you a bit of a head start when you start rolling it out later.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and prepare some cookie sheets. I like to line the cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent burning or sticking.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 to 1/8 inch. The dough should be pretty easy to work with.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 to 1/8 inch. The dough should be pretty easy to work with.
To cut the dough into ring shapes, you could scrounge around your kitchen for a bigger circle and a smaller circle (a glass for the larger one, and a piping tip or a small bottle lid for the smaller?). Or just eyeball it, cutting it out with a knife.
I find it much easier to use circle cutters. Wilton makes nice nesting circle cutter sets:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=01876408-E7CA-9EAE-BCAF3B220E324D56&killnav=1
or you could use a linzer cookie cutter set.
I have an older Wilton circle cutter set that worked very well here - I used the biggest and smallest cutters:
I find it much easier to use circle cutters. Wilton makes nice nesting circle cutter sets:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=01876408-E7CA-9EAE-BCAF3B220E324D56&killnav=1
or you could use a linzer cookie cutter set.
I have an older Wilton circle cutter set that worked very well here - I used the biggest and smallest cutters:
Cut out as many of your larger circles as you can fit, and then center your smaller circle cutter as best you can. You can reroll the scraps and continue cutting. I got about 28 cookies out of each batch. Transfer them to your parchment-lined cookie sheet (by hand or with a spatula). You can space them fairly close together, since they don't really spread.
Time for the topping. Take out the egg white you saved earlier, and beat it lightly. You'll want a pastry brush, or something like it, to spread the egg white on the cookies. Have your almonds and your coarse sugar ready to go, so that you can place them on the cookies before the egg white dries.
Spread the egg white on 2-3 cookies at a time, arrange your almonds according to your preference, and sprinkle the coarse sugar on top liberally (be generous with the sugar, because the cookie is not very sweet at all). Work on only a few cookies at a time, because the egg white wash does dry out, and then the almonds and sugar don't stick very well.
You can be creative with the design - here are some designs that my helper and I came up with.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Cool briefly, then remove to a plate.
The cookies taste better the next day, and they keep well.
The flavor is very delicate, however, so I don't recommend serving these with other baked goods that are strong in flavor.
And there you have it - old-fashioned obarinky! Enjoy!
The cookies taste better the next day, and they keep well.
The flavor is very delicate, however, so I don't recommend serving these with other baked goods that are strong in flavor.
And there you have it - old-fashioned obarinky! Enjoy!
Alternate Obarinky recipes from my Teta Baba's collection:
-sour cream version: ¼ c. sour cream, ¼ c. softened butter, ¾ c. flour; Mix, chill overnight, proceed as above
-yeast version: 3 egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. sour cream, 1 Tbsp. softened butter, 1 packet yeast, ¾ c. flour; mix and proceed as above
-sour cream version: ¼ c. sour cream, ¼ c. softened butter, ¾ c. flour; Mix, chill overnight, proceed as above
-yeast version: 3 egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. sour cream, 1 Tbsp. softened butter, 1 packet yeast, ¾ c. flour; mix and proceed as above