Pryaniki with Mint Glaze
Christmastime is here, by golly...
So what are we doing about it? Well, I can tell you what I've been doing for the past week. Pretty much everyday this week in fact. And that is.... baking cookies of course!
Are you sick of cookie recipes yet? Because I have a huge heap of other cookie recipes just waiting to be baked. But I will post them another day. Just so you and I don't feel overwhelmed.
So what's the cookie recipe today? Well, back in May when my boyfriend returned from Russia, he brought back cookies. He said that he pretty much lived off of them when he was living there. They were called Пряники, or pryaniki for anyone who can't read the Cyrillic alphabet. (I briefly tried teaching myself Russian two summers ago, but I can't remember any of it now..)
So I made this so that he can reminisce about the 5 months he spent in Russia. Also, because these are excellent Christmas cookies.
When he offered these cookies to his dad, he couldn't compliment me enough on them. He said they are almost identical to the cookies that his mother would make for him every Christmas. So in fact, I made two people reminisce about their past. Strange how some things work out that way.
So if you are looking for a unique cookie that will earn you rave reviews, make these for someone. You mother, your friend, Santa... This recipe makes a lot of cookies, but I'm sure they won't last more than a few days.
Pryaniki with Mint Glaze
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Glaze
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lightly spray cookie sheets, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar. Mix in the sour cream until smooth.
- In a small bowl, add the baking soda and the vinegar to get it to bubble, and mix together. Add in the salt and vanilla.
- Mix in the vinegar mixture to the sugar mixture until fully combined.
- Slowly add in the flour, and mix with a fork until fully combined. Dough will be a little sticky.
- Lightly flour hands, and scoop one heaping teaspoon of dough into hands, and form into balls. Place on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven to 25-30 minutes, or until beginning to golden. Remove immediately.
- Meanwhile, beat together the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric beater on high until tripled in volume.
- Reduce the speed to low, and add in the powdered sugar, lemon juice and peppermint extract until well blended.
- Set to medium speed and mix for about 2 minutes until creamy. Do not beat too much or it will become watery.
Those Russian cookies look wonderful ! I love sour cream in there 😀
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family !
These are such fabulous cookie bites!! Love the peppermint glaze.
My Romanian mother from the former Yugoslavia used to make these cookies but the glaze was just a plain icing sugar one.
Your Russian puff ball cookies look wonderful! And how neat that they brought back such nice memories for your boyfriend and his dad. Merry Christmas, Cathleen!
Always fun to try a new cookie AND have it taste great. What a great compliment! Merry Christmas, Cathleen!
This recipe looks so delicious! I would be spooning that glaze 😀
Happy Holidays!
CCU
Gosh, these look incredible! Really nice recipe - thanks so much!
It's great when a new cookie recipe turns out to be delicious, but it's even better when you can help loved one remember some happy memories from their past! Happy holidays 🙂
It's the cookie season and I love it! These pryaniki are new to me..and peppermint glaze sounds really intriguing.
Ooh, the mint glaze sounds great!
there are never too many cookie recipes at Christmas
I wish I had more time to bake because these look really good Cathleen. All I've had time for are peppermint brownies and egg nog. Merry Christmas to you and your family.