Russian honeybread has been made since the 9th century, at which time they were made with rye-flour, honey and berry-juice. Over time, some other natural indigenous ingredients like local roots were added to flavor these cookies. When trade first began with the Middle East and India (12th-13th centuries) these sweet recipes were kicked up with a variety of spices – popularly with cloves, ginger, citrus fruits, pepper, nutmeg, badian, mint, anise, ginger and many others and hence these cookies were referred to as “pryanosti” meaning they were well-spiced.
Today pryanik are available in many flavors, shapes and styles. They are commonly seen as pressed cookies or painted cookies – the latter of which are painted with white, rose or chocolate icing or are decorated with berries, nuts or candied citrus peel. They can also be filled with jam, sandwich-style.
The myriad styles of pryanik are generally always served with tea and coffee, and they have that wonderful spiciness of a gingerbread cookie, perfect for when the weather is getting colder (I guess since I live in New Orleans, our coldest weather probably never approaches that of Moscow in the summer, but I still enjoy cold-weather treats!)
Today pryanik are available in many flavors, shapes and styles. They are commonly seen as pressed cookies or painted cookies – the latter of which are painted with white, rose or chocolate icing or are decorated with berries, nuts or candied citrus peel. They can also be filled with jam, sandwich-style.
The myriad styles of pryanik are generally always served with tea and coffee, and they have that wonderful spiciness of a gingerbread cookie, perfect for when the weather is getting colder (I guess since I live in New Orleans, our coldest weather probably never approaches that of Moscow in the summer, but I still enjoy cold-weather treats!)
Pryanik
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
1. Sift the flour, baking soda and spices into a medium bowl.
2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and thick.
3. Heat the honey in a small saucepan over low heat until it liquifies. Stir the honey and vanilla into the beaten egg mixture.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients to form a stiff dough.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Butter two cookie sheets. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Use your favorite cookie cutter to make cookies, and whatever size your cookies are, use that as a guide for how far apart to place them, expecting them to double in size.
7. With a pastry brush, give the cookies just a little honey on top.
8. Bake for 10-20 minutes, or until just golden, rotating the sheets halfway through for even baking.
9. Cool on the sheets until the cookies firm slightly. Transfer to racks to finish cooling.
10. In a bowl, add 1-2 tbs water to the confectioners’ sugar and whisk together to form a paste. Decorate your cookies when they’ve cooled and enjoy.
TIPS: These cookies are great with different spices, and I even have tried adding cayenne, so feel free to be creative. Toppings also vary throughout Russia so try adding your favorite nuts or berries if you are so inclined. I also *highly* recommend taking out about 2-3 cookies when they’re only halfway baked, putting them in a bowl with apricot jam and cool whip, and not telling anyone else about it – it was heaven.Recipe, photos and post courtesy of our guest contributor, Adrienne, with special thanks to her Russian friend, Constantin.
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