Persian raisin cookies, originally uploaded by c(h)ristine.
I often bring goodies to the office–it’s my way of getting yaya’s out and baking, while not consuming all those calories (of course I keep a few for myself)! I mean, there is just no dessert or cookie recipe out there “for one” (or two or three or four). It’s quite difficult, especially with cookies, to pare down those recipes to a few cookies, too.
A couple weeks ago I went to Elat Market in Los Angeles and bought my usual stash of really thick good pita, a big bag of delicious Persian nougat, and various Persian cookies. I fell in love with the raisin cookies that I bought, and got a real hankering to make more Persian food at home (where oh where can I find a recipe for Persian nougat, the kind that is soft and perfumed with rosewater?).
So when my new Persian cookbook called New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij arrived, I immediately thumbed through it looking for my favorite dishes.
It just so happens that a couple employees who usually work remotely are visiting the office–these same employees usually miss out on the homemade treats I bring into the office. So I decided to make some raisin cookies.
Though I love chocolate chip cookies, these are a welcome break from the usual. These cookies are very crisp and buttery–and the raisins are an unexpected yet very welcome texture. I used currants, which I like even better than normal raisins in these cookies. The ingredient list is very short and the cookies are easy to make, using very familiar ingredients in a Western pantry. The key to making these crisp cookies is melting the butter beforehand–it makes a very goopy cookie dough so you will get your fingers a bit messy when you drop the teaspoons onto the cookie sheet.
The book says the recipe makes 90 cookies–I halved the recipe and ended up with about 50 cookies.
Recipe follows after the jump…
RAISIN COOKIES (or Nan-e keshmeshy)
From New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij
Makes: 90 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups raisins (I used currants)
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread out wax paper on a cookie sheet. (I used a silpat liner)
2. In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, vanilla, and sugar; then add the eggs one at a time. Mix well until creamy.
3. Add raisins and mix well.
4. Fold in the flour until a soft dough forms.
5. Drop teaspoonfuls of batter on the wax paper, leaving about 2 inches between each spoonful.
6. Place the cookie sheet in the center of the oven and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly golden.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool. Gently lift the cookies off the wax paper.
13 responses so far ↓
Susan // November 7, 2006 at 10:28 am
They look delicious. But I keep thinking those are chocolate chips.
Me no like cooked raisins.
JMom // November 8, 2006 at 9:17 am
oh yummy! they look really delicious. This reminds me of a cookie I found some years ago. I think it was called market house cookies and it used carob raisins.
Too bad my hubby and daughters don’t like anything with raisins in them. I’m the only one in my house
sip visser // November 23, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Please please if you find a recipy for Gaz persian Nougat, yes with rosewater, can you share it with me? Thank you so much
lm // August 12, 2007 at 11:03 am
http://video.about.com/candy/Persian-Pistachio-Nougat.htm
C(h)ristine // August 12, 2007 at 11:22 am
lm: thank you so much! I’ve been looking for this recipe, high and low.
c(h)ristine // December 2, 2007 at 8:54 am
lm: thank you SO much–I finally made the recipe (yes, months later) with my own adjustments (I found it was lacking at least one spice and didn’t have enough rose water) to the Great Approval of a family member who grew up on nougat in the Middle East! YES. You have made this cook and her family very very happy!
Lucero gutierrez // December 13, 2007 at 11:19 am
My son has a school project where he needs to bring to school a food from Iran, this recipe looks easy and delicious, as soon as he gets from school today we are going to start making them.
samin // December 15, 2007 at 9:54 am
oh my gosh,
i totally grew up eating these cookies at every family gathering, holiday, and just because. the photo of the one you made looks EXACTLY like the ones we used to buy from glendale bakery.
c(h)ristine // December 15, 2007 at 10:29 am
at last! lm thank you so much–thanks to you, I was able to make my own Persian nougat here (http://muffintop.wordpress.com/2007/12/15/persian-nougat-at-last/).
Lucero: I hope you enjoy the cookies! They are really buttery and wonderful.
samin: Yay! I’m so glad I brought back a good childhood memory for you…!
Farhad // February 23, 2008 at 4:00 pm
The ingredients from the book (2001, 2nd edition) are as follows:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup oil (you left this out)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups raisins
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flower
I think you owe it to your readers to point out the specific changes you made to the recipe (leaving out oil and adding vanilla) that you cite.
c(h)ristine // February 23, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Hi Farhad
You are right, when I make changes to a recipe, I owe it to my readers to point out the changes.
However…
I will doublecheck the recipe in my edition of the cookbook when I can find it–and while I could have added the vanilla on my own (because I just lurrrv vanilla), I don’t remember the oil at all in the recipe I saw!
I am pretty sure I followed the recipe word for word, because this was a post about the first time I made the cookies (and when I make something for the first time I tend to follow the directions to a T).
Anyway, will get back to you soon.
c(h)ristine // February 25, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Hi Farhad
I just doublechecked the recipe (p. 301 in the 2006 edition of the cookbook) and there is NO oil and there _is_ vanilla in the recipe. So I did not make any changes to the recipe as stated by the writer, Najmieh Batmanglij.
She must have made some changes herself between 2001 and 2006.
Her cookbook, btw, is great.
Farhad // April 7, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Just a quick follow-up to say that I used the updated 2006 recipe you posted and the cookies got the seal of approval from my family. “As good as the Persian bakery!” sez my wife. Thanks for setting me straight!
Now to brush up on my rusty Farsi and write a letter to Najmieh Batmanglij asking which other recipes she made huge changes to between 2001 and 2006!
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