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Elmali Kurabiye (Turkish Apple Cookies)

Turkish apple cookies dusted with powdered sugar on a plate.
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5 from 2 reviews

Melt-in-your-mouth cookies filled with a mixture of apples, cinnamon and walnuts.

Ingredients

Scale

For The Filling:

  • 6-7 apples, peeled and grated
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup walnuts, crumbled

For The Dough:

  • 2 sticks and 2 tablespoons butter (250 gr), softened at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup yogurt, at room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional
  • 1/2 cup (60 grams) powdered sugar (plus extra for sprinkling over the cookies)
  • 1/2 cup (60 grams) cornstarch (cornflour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups (400 grams) all purpose flour

Instructions

Cook The Filling:

  1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Cook the grated apples and sugar until soft and almost no juice left, about 10 minutes.

  2. Add in cinnamon and walnuts. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool completely.

Prepare The Dough:

  1. Whisk together the softened butter, yogurt, egg, lemon zest, powdered sugar, cornstarch and baking powder.

  2. Gradually add in the flour and mix using your hand or a stand mixer until everything holds together. You will have a soft, non-sticky dough. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 10 equal balls (or 8 balls for thicker cookies).

Shape The Cookies And Bake:

  1. Preheat the oven at 350F / 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. Dust the counter with a little flour. Place one of the dough balls on it and using a rolling pin, roll it into a circle (7 inch / 17 cm diameter and ⅕ inch / ½ cm thick). It doesn’t have to be perfect. 

  3. To create a perfect round, place a plate on the dough and cut around it with a knife or pizza cutter. You can discard the scraps or gather them to form another dough ball once you've finished shaping all the cookies.

  4. Next, cut the circle into 8 equal triangles. Add 1-2 teaspoons of filling to the wide end of each triangle, then roll them up. Place them seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

  5. Repeat the same steps with the remaining dough balls. You might need to use 2 baking sheets. And bake until very lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer them onto a cooling rack. Sprinkle as much powdered sugar as you want on each and serve.

Notes

  1. You can make the filling ahead of time. It keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
  2. Make sure the butter you use is perfectly softened. Otherwise, it won’t be easy to make the dough.
  3. These measurements give you 80 cookies filled with apple and walnut mixture. This might sound too many, but these are small and everyone eats at least three (or 4 or 5!) at a time. Also, they keep well for several days at room temperature. Alternatively, you can either use half of the measurements or freeze the unbaked cookies for later.
  4. The thickness is a matter of preference. If you want your apple stuffed cookies thicker, roll the dough into a smaller circle.
  5. As these are a little crispy, we don’t want them to soften. So keep them in a container partly sealed. They keep well for up to a week. They might start losing their crispy texture a bit after the second day but they will still taste amazing.

  6. To freeze, prepare the apple cookie rolls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and keep in the freezer unbaked for 40-50 minutes. Then put them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can bake them without thawing.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.giverecipe.com/turkish-apple-cinnamon-cookies/