GERALT’S FESTIVE COOKIES

Midinváerne on the Continent: A Wintertime Culinary Recipes

crunchy cookies with plum jam, poppy seeds and nuts

Crunchy cookies, with jam and poppy seeds or nuts, have always been an inconspicuous specialty of a certain village in Velen... and what do they have to do with the White Wolf? Supposedly, once upon a time, when the famous witcher was on a contract in this area, apart from a bag of clinking coins he received a packet of sweets as a thank you from the youngest inhabitants. The unexpected gift also had a recipe note for these cookies that were renamed in honor of the "hero" since that day.

Try to bake these so-called Geralt’s Festive Cookies - which is 2 of our 5 Holiday-themed Witcher-inspired recipes, ideal not only for wintertime celebrations!

The recipes were prepared in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED for the needs of Holiday gift booklet in 2021.

SERVING: 4 portions

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour and butter by rubbing it with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs/wet sand (but not too long to avoid heating up the butter!). Then add minced tvorog cheese, sugar or honey, and salt, then knead the mixture just fast enough so the dough holds together. If the dough is too dry to hold together, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. Form the dough into a disk, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Take out the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.
3. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, lightly sprinkle the surface with flour and roll out the dough quite thinly, using a rolling pin into 3 mm thick square. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle it with some flour. Use a fork to puncture the dough in a few places.
4. Bake the dough for 10 minutes, then remove it from the oven. Using a knife, gently and evenly spread the thin layer of jam across the entire surface — be careful as the dough will be hot and soft — then sprinkle poppy seeds over the left half of the dough, and chopped nuts on the right half. Gently press the nuts with your palm so they can stick better to the dough.
5. Transfer the dough into the oven again, and bake for another 8-10 minutes until the dough bottom is golden brown. Be sure to check the color of the dough in the last minutes of baking.
6. Take out the baked dough from the oven, let it cool for 5 minutes, then, using a sharp knife, trim the uneven edges and cut the dough into triangle cookies. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely to room temperature so they become more firm.

Tip: Instead of hazelnuts and poppy seeds, you can use chopped trail mix (without candies), you can also use other kinds of thick jams as a spread, depending on what you have in your pantry!