When I was a child in Serbia, if you wanted a cookie, you would have to go to the store and buy them in a factory wrapped box. There were crispy, square butter cookies, ring-shaped and not too sweet tea cookies, hazelnut and mocha flavored wafer cookies, thin cookies shaped like leaves and clovers with bottoms dipped in dark chocolate, shiny, flower-shaped cookies that melted in your mouth, and crumbly, ridged cookies doused with vanilla-scented powdered sugar.
Homemade versions of cookies were made in a device similar to a panini press or in a machine with a hand crank that came with several molds. I don’t remember any field trip away from school or a camp without a bag full of these crispy desserts, crunchy and somewhat soft, with a zing of lemon zest, not too sweet, hardy enough to survive a grade school child’s lack of attention and offer the same fresh taste after a week.
But for holidays, Mother and Njanja would completely ignore these cookies and reach for recipes that produced the most delectable petit fores. The competition in the town was fierce and they each excelled in the pastry department. While they watched sugar caramelize and made Italian meringue, we were at the table armed with small hammers, breaking the shells of walnuts and hazelnuts, begrudgingly contributing to the family effort and eating as many nuts as we could sneak by Mother’s Sauron-like eye.
To us the ordeal was torturous, but we knew better than to whine and complain. In the end, we were always rewarded by some simple sweet that could be prepared in minutes, while the perfect little squares, balls, and triangles they made were laid out on long, narrow trays, geometrically aligned like Roman legions, and completely out of our reach. We knew the guests would get the right of first choice and we acquiesced, albeit grumbling and envious. But we knew that some of the smells that embraced the house like luxurious pashmina shawls belonged to us and as we stealthily visited the beautifully arranged trays in the cold, closed-off white-and-blue formal dining room, we restrained ourselves and retreated upon ogling the goods, knowing that in a few days we would get to taste them, and that in the meantime we were not forgotten.
Yes, we were spoiled. I don’t recall a day when there was not something sweet awaiting us when we returned from school or when we finished the main meal in the afternoon. Mother did not like to buy cookies, finding it ridiculously easy to put something together that would satisfy the voracious appetites of her brood. I admit that we lusted after the commercially produced sweets, but we were aware that they could not compete with Mother’s desserts.
In the summertime, we enjoyed light, creamy concoctions filled with juicy, fresh fruit, but the cold months were filled with the scents of vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, coconut, and roasted hazelnuts. Oh, how we loved these simple, non-demanding desserts that Mother made for us… just because… in between… without a thought!
It’s another round of Recipe Swap, the event started by Christianna of Burwell General Store. Once a month a group of very creative and imaginative people make the same recipe, putting their own twist on it, weaving their stories and experiences through their posts. So far we have been preparing different dishes from an old hymnal and cookbook Christianna unearthed at a flea market, but this month we are branching off and trying the recipes from another junk yard find,The Second Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes From Famous Eating Places. “It was written in 1954, and features recipes from famous restaurants at the time, making it a fascinating vintage social register” (quote by Christianna). The recipe is for Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies.
This is the basic, simple recipe for a treat that welcomed many generations of American children when they ran inside coming home from school. It’s comforting, homey, sometimes crispy, sometimes chewy, the best when chased with a glass of cold, whole milk. It evokes the feelings of love, safety, and warmth. It is the cookie that my mongrel girls choose when I offer a treat. It is the epitome of cookie for them and as I type, a batch of them is cooling off on the rack in the kitchen.
I love chocolate chip cookies. But when I want to go home in my mind, when I want to feel the icy touch of northwestern wind and smell the first snowflakes in the air, I reach all the way to my childhood, to the smells wafting from Mother’s oven, welcoming and warming. And there I find these simple treats that smelled so good cooling off that we emerged out of our rooms nose-first, like cobras entranced by an Indian fakir’s seductive melody. There is no snow in Southern California, but with these cookies I can pretend that the winds that attack us from everywhere are icy, frigid, bringing with them the intoxicating smell of first snowflakes.
COCONUT CRESCENTS (KIFLICE SA KOKOSOM)
Ingredients:
- 250gr (1 cup, 2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 tsp baking owder
- 100 gr (3 oz) ground walnuts
- 100 gr (3oz) coconut flour (I bring it from Serbia; it’s sweetened and ground much finer that American coconut)
- 200 gr (7oz) flour
- 1 cup powder sugar
Directions:
Mix butter and sugar using an electric mixer until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Combine all dry ingredients and mix together. Stir butter mixture into dry ingredients until combined. The dough should be soft.
Pinch off pieces of dough the size of walnuts, roll into a dowel, and curve like a horseshue, ½ inch in diameter. Place on the cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-18 minutes until pale brown. Let the cookies cool on the sheets. When cooled off, roll into powder sugar.
What a lovely story you have painted of your childhood…sounds like so much fun, although I am sure painful not to taste all the treats immediately! Coconut flour and walnuts sounds like such a nice rich flavor to dip into a cup of coffee.
I remember cracking nuts for my Grandmother (“Farmor” in Swedish) who was sick with Rheumatoid Arthritis for as long as I can remember. I LOVED just sitting with her, listening to her telling stories of when my dad and my aunt/uncle were little kids. I did what I could to help her, cracking nuts and rolling her meatballs were a few of the things I could do as a kid. You made me smile when I read that you knew you could taste the treats “in a few days”. Patience is something that has gotten lost in recent generations I think, with the instant gratification that comes with communicating via the internet… an email is not replied to in 48 hours and you are “late”. LOVED your post, and your crescents look very good!.
What a lovely story Lana; it is so indicative of how much food plays a role in our memories, especially of family. I make a cookie each year that my Grandmother made and I remember having every year of my life that I can recall. It’s not just the cookie…it’s her, her home and everything wonderful from my experience with her in each and every bite.
Your childhood sounds so lovely. I adore how food plays such an important part in our memories. These cookies are really remarkable. I am now on the hunt for coconut flour!
What a beautiful story and gorgeous recipe for the swap. I was just thinking this morning about how time can go so slowly when you’re a kid, and the road to Christmas morning almost torturous, only broken up by fun things in school and the excitement of what was to come. Lovely trip down memory lane
Lana,
These look so delicious, and I love hearing stories of your childhood in Serbia. What a fantastic treat for us- both the cookies and the lovely tales.
X
S
It sounds like your mother truly baked a fortune in cookies! They all sound so exotic and delicious! These traditions surrounding food and holidays are fascinating and our experiences with them as children make quite an impact.
Your cookies are beautiful and sound delicious! I think they’d be a wonderful addition to my holiday cookie repertoire!
Hi Lana
what a wonderful story of you growing up, and what a delicious cookie that you shared with us as your entry for this months swap!
cheers
Dennis
Hi Lana, I always love your memories of Serbia and these little cookies look great. Thanks for such a lovely post to read.
Lana I just love your posts! You share such wonderful stories it gives the recipes a complete life. I always enjoy learning more about people’s life experiences and thank you for sharing so much of yourself and of your family experience. The cookie is great and I love the departure to something familiar to your life.
You always have such wonderful stories and family tales to go along with your recipes. I love it! Thank you for always sharing such lovely things…and for your great recipes!
Somehow, you make me reminisce for your childhood, leaving my own behind! Thank you as always for wonderful, touching stories, that make me want to get into my kitchen and hug every member of my family.
I have no idea where, but I know I’ve had those cookies before when I was very young. They look so familiar to me. I’d forgotten all about them! You described your mother’s kitchen so well, I can picture it now.
Lana, As always a lovely post and your cookies are so delicious looking!
I love that your mom prefered to make homemade goodies, but I can see how an Oreo would also be tempting!
Loved reading every bit of this blog post! Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your childhood and the wonderful memories you have of it. I mentioned on someone else’s blog too, and I am saying it here again- love the diversity of this swap group and also the talent each one of us brings to it. I get to learn so many new things and am so glad to be a part of it. Your story makes me want to be a part of the walnut cracking group- but then wait, I would also like to be part of the prestigious guest group- the one that got to sample all those treats!
Thanks again for the story and the recipe!
I love those cookies! We dont call them fortune cookies or have coconut flour in them but the crumbleness and other ingredients are the same!
It takes growing up to appreciate somethings in the childhood, too bad there is no time machine yet
What a lovely story! Isn’t it amazing how things from our childhood come back so vividly with the changing of the seasons?
I received your Roses cookies from the Cookie Swap. So delicious! I loved the texture and the slightly sweet taste. Thank you!
You paint such vivid pictures with your words…and I LOVE the sound of your cookies…mmmmmm.
I love your cute children story, and I also miss that time, especially these food in that time. Their cute shape and delicious taste and the enjoyable feeling all make me recall everything.
Hi Lana, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! As you can see I am slowly catching up on reading! Mum’s baking nothing quite like it & I am certainly making the most of having my Mum here
Box full of shortbread & trying to find an excuse for all my favourite desserts to be made!
And we were just discussing yesterday FHB…as in “family hold back” while the guests get first pick of the feast, we always had to do it too!