Apple Cookies – Elmalı Kurabiye

When I was a child, most mothers had a “tea party day” once a month. Her friends and neighbors would come for an afternoon tea. We kids looked forward to these days. When you came home, your mother would be too busy to check on you to see if you have done your homework or not. In addition, there would be an incredible spread of all you can eat baked goods for you to enjoy. Apple cookies have always been one of my favorites. Apples and walnuts with a hint of cinnamon rolled in a thin crust that melts in your mouth. Who can resist that? Here’s my take on it. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

Dough

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 2 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 2 heaping tablespoons yogurt
• ½ cup corn starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1 ½ cups flour

Apple filling

• 2 large or 3 medium apples (about 1 lb.), peeled, grated
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Garnish:

• Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash, peel and grate the apples. Place in a medium size pan. Add sugar. Over medium heat cook the apples until the juice is evaporated, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the cinnamon and the walnuts, stir and set aside the filling, let it cool to room temperature.
4. Place the room temperature butter in a large bowl. Add the egg, sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Mix them using a hand held mixer.
5. Add the starch, baking powder, mix.
6. Slowly add the flour, knead by hand until you have a soft dough.
7. Divide the dough into three equal pieces.
8. Take one piece. Using a roller pin, roll the dough into a circle about 10 inches in diameter. You can use a lid or a dessert plate to cut it into a perfect circle.
9. Cut the circular dough into 8 pieces, like pizza. 
10. Put a tablespoon full of the apple filling onto the wide side of each slice of dough. Starting on the filling side, roll the dough into a cookie with sides open.
11. Place the cookie on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
12. Repeat the process until all three pieces of the dough is used. You’ll have 24 cookies ready to go to the oven.
13. Bake at 350 until the tops are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.
14. Let the cookies cool to room temperature. Sprinkle powdered sugar on them before serving.

Notes:

1. You can use red or green apples. Green ones give a little tangy taste. You may want to add a little bit more sugar to the filling if you use green apples.
2. If you like, you can mix everything by hand in the same order listed above. 
3. As you cut the dough into a round piece, you’ll end up with extra pieces of dough. You can combine these pieces and shape them into small balls, flatten them into small circular pieces, put filling in the middle, fold into a half circle and bake with the rest of the cookies.
4. These freeze well. If you intend to freeze them, do NOT sprinkle powdered sugar on the cookies after you bake them. Instead, when you are ready to serve, reheat the cookies in the oven, then sprinkle powdered sugar when you are ready to serve.

AFIYET OLSUN!
BON APPETIT!

Ingredients

Peel and grate-the apples

Cook apples with sugar

Add cinnamon and walnuts

Apple filling with walnuts and cinnamon

Mix butter sugar, egg, yogurt and vanilla

Partition dough into 3 pieces

Cut dough using a plate or a lid

Cut dough into 8 slices and put filling

Roll slices into cookie rolls

Cookies ready to go to the oven-

Cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar

Apple Cookies

Apple Cookies