A few months ago, we had some friends visiting and I suddenly fell into a baking mood. This is not my typical state of mind. I do cook, and some people may say that I cook well but baking is another story. However, friends were coming over and my mother always said that you just can’t have tea without cookies.My mom has been gone a long time; my Dad is not with us either so where can I find a good cookie recipe? Luckily in one of my visits to Israel I met Aunt Dina, Uncle Moshe’s wife, who immediately replies, “cookies? I have an amazing recipe for you, easy as pie.”
“Ok, I’m writing”, I said while typing into my phone, she brought her thumb to the bottom of her finger and raised her hand a bit, marking the quantities as she started to dictate. “One cup water, one cup oil, a cup and a bit sugar, a bit? -How much is a bit? About a quarter cup, half a cup sesame seeds,” here she adds another finger and continues, “two table spoons anis stars, two vanilla, two baking and flour as much as it takes…that’s it. You mix it all then you open the dough and cut into squares.” “What heat should the oven be?” I ask “medium, not too hot.” “For how long? -Until they are brown, but not really brown, that they don’t burn, a light brown.”
Simple, right? It truly was easy as pie, and what a success. The guests didn’t even leave any crumbs.
So I decided to rewrite the recipe a bit for my sister’s sake, she doesn’t really work well with “as much flour as necessary,” and all of you benefit from that.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 TBS vanilla sugar
1 TBS baking powder
½ cup sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
1 TBS anise stars
½ cup oil
½ cup water
Heat the oven to 350/180 degrees
Mix all ingredients into smooth dough. if the dough is a little sticky add some flour, one tablespoon at a time. If it’s too dry add one tablespoon of oil. Let dough rest for about 30 minutes.
On a smooth area powdered with flour flatten the dough with a roller into a rectangle ⅛ of an inch thick. With the help of a serrated cutter divide into 3x3 centimeter squares. (I like different sized cookies so I’m not that precise). Spear each cookie a few times with the fork.
Place on a baking tray covered with baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the cool off on a metal grid. Taste one to see how they came out, another just to be sure, a few more to make sure they all taste the same, and if you have any left place in a sealed tin box for three to four days.