Praskovki (Bulgarian Peach Cookies)

Praskovki, a peach shaped delicious cookie, is a specialty from Bulgaria.

The cookies are made with a moist sticky dough. Then their centers are scooped out and mixed with a buttery sugar and walnut filling. This filling is used as glue to get two cookies to stick to one another forming the shape of a peach. The cookie is then painted red and yellow to resemble a peach.

The filling is traditionally made with walnuts but I have lately developed an allergy to walnuts so I used almonds instead. I am sure that altered the taste but never having tasted the original we would never know. I did get a little carried away with the quantity. For some reason I did not realize I would end up with so many. But this is a make ahead cookie and it tastes better the next day. I refrigerated them and my daughter had them as dessert for a whole week.

The recipe was adapted from here

You will need
For the cookie
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. yogurt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 cups all purpose flour

For the filling
1/2 cup crushed walnuts (I used almonds)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
hollowed out crumbs from cookie center
2 tbsp. rose hip jam

To finish
4 tbsp. milk
a few drops red color
a few drops yellow color
sugar as needed to roll the finished cookie in

Combine the sugar and eggs in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vegetable oil, yogurt, baking powder and baking soda. Beat together to combine. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and knead well. The dough will be very sticky. Form a ball, cover and keep aside for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix in the reserved 1/2 cup of flour to the dough and knead well. Divide the dough into lime size portions and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Make sure you have an even number of cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are cooked through but their color has not changed. The under side of the cookies may be brown but the tops should be white. Cook on a rack.

While the cookies are cooling make the filling. Crush the walnuts or almonds and combine with all the other ingredients.

Scoop out the center from the under side of the cooled cookie and add it to the filling. Repeat for all the cookies.

Fill the scooped out area of two cookies with the filling. Place them together back to back to form a peach. Wipe off any filling that oozes out but keep enough to let it show. Repeat with all the cookies.

To finish mix in the colors with the milk. This is your chance to let your inner artist bloom. Either make two bowls and color with yellow and red separately or mix them together and color the cookies orange. I did both.

Roll the painted cookie in sugar and place it in a muffin cup. The muffin cup prevents it from sticking until they are dry. Cover and keep aside overnight.

Enjoy!