Paprenjaci - Croatian Pepper, Honey & Walnut Cookies
Made mostly at Christmas in Croatia, Paprenjaci are mostly known as pepper cookies, for obvious reasons, i think the description should be a little more inclusive, hence the above title.
I’m never one for too many stupid traditions, although i do like the ones associated with food, of course! But these shouldn’t be brought-out just once a year.
In Croatia it’s all about the mould that leaves a design on the biscuit, wooden by tradition they’re kept in families and brought out every year, now it’s possible to find them on auction sites.
i used a more modern form of printer i found in my local high street, but honestly, if you don’t have a mould, it doesn’t make any difference to the cooking or the taste so don’t let it stop you giving them a try.
I can hear you wondering about the additions of pepper. By rights these biscuits should taste pretty rank, but believe me when i say they are the perfect amount of sweet. Not tooth rottenly sweet , just balanced.
Go on, give them a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Made with love stamp
What You Need
450g Plain Flour Plus extra for rolling
180g Butter - Room temperature
150g Castor Sugar
3 Tbs Honey
1 Egg
3 Egg Yolks - See Tip Box
150g Walnuts - Ground - See Tip Box
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Black Pepper
Pinch of salt
Ready for the oven
How It’s Done
Heat the oven to 180c
Place the room temperature butter, the castor sugar and honey into a bowl of an electric mixer and beat until everything is combined and and there are no obvious butter left behind
Add the egg, the egg yolks, the pepper and the cinnamon and beat again to mix everything together
Once mixed, add the ground walnuts and the flour and mix again until it all comes together into a soft dough.
Dust the work surface with a little flour, and roll the dough out to the thickness of around £1 coin.
Cut out the dough into the shape you want,( i chose round) and place them onto an oven tray covered with non-stick baking parchment. .
If using a stamp, now the time to use it .
Place the cookies into the hot oven and bake until a light golden brown - between 10-13 minutes depending on the oven.
Tip Box
Walnuts - If walnuts aren’t your thing, try ground almonds or even hazelnuts
Don’t get rid of the egg whites - Use them for something else straight away or freeze them for later
Freeze - These are great to make ahead and freeze. Freeze them uncooked and take straight out of the freezer and into a hot oven for the best results.
Golden brown - perfect amount of sweet
