Rich Rolled Cinnamon Cookies

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Eid, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Traditionally, Muslims go to the mosque for a quick prayer in the morning and celebrate afterwards by eating with family and friends.

This year I made these cut out cookies for Eid, following a recipe that we used often when I was growing up. These cookies are thin and rich, but not too sweet, with a hint of cinnamon. There is something about their simplicity that makes them addictive.

I have so many childhood memories attached to these cookies. As kids, we painstakingly cut them out and decorated them, carefully adding details like a nose and eyes, as if they wouldn't be eaten hot out of the oven in 10 minutes. These days, I just use decorative sugar to add some color to the cookies.

The key to getting these cookies right is rolling the dough out to the right thickness. Too thin and they will be crisp and hard. Too thick and the cookies will not cook through. If you aren't sure that you have the right thickness, you can always try a few out before making a full batch.

I prefer to use plastic cookie cutters whenever possible, since I find them to be more durable and easier to maintain than the metal ones. Also, I've found that the cookie cutter shape actually makes a difference in the finished product. Choose a larger shape with fewer thin, sharp projections and it will result in a cookie that has a more even texture.

These cookies are perfect for any holiday and are especially fun for kids to decorate. Hope you enjoy!


Here is the recipe, adapted from Joy of Cooking:

Rich Rolled Cinnamon Cookies
(makes about 40 medium sized cookies)

For the cookie dough:
1 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

For making the cookies:
cookie cutters
rolling pin
decorative sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for several minutes until the butter lightens in color and becomes fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

Sift together the flour, salt, and cinnamon, or mix so the cinnamon is evenly spread throughout the flour. On low speed, add the dry ingredients gradually, mixing until just incorporated.

The dough should be rather thick at this point. Divide into two pieces, form them into flat balls, and cover them with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, until hard. If you don't chill it long enough, it will be sticky and the cookies will be difficult to cut out.

Place a piece of chilled dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll out to about 1/8 of an inch thick. Use your cookie cutters to cut as many cookies as you can from the dough, and then place each one on your cookie sheet. You should try to work rather quickly to cut them out, as the dough will become more difficult to work with as it warms up. Gather the remaining dough scraps, roll them into a ball, and return them to the fridge to keep chilled. Once the cookies are on the sheet, you can take your time to decorate them.

Alternate to the other dough piece still in the fridge, and repeat this process until you finish all the dough.

Bake for 6-9 minutes, until the cookie feels firm when you push on the top. If you can see visible brown spots around the side, you've taken it too far and may need to adjust the thickness of the dough or the cooking time.

Moroccan Style Chicken and Chickpeas

I love this dish because it's so easy to make, but so flavorful and satisfying. It's actually pretty healthy, too, aside from the olive oil used to brown the chicken. One of my favorite parts is the spice combination: cinnamon contrasts with ginger, and chili pepper adds a little heat. The aromas from these spices are just amazing.

I know what you are thinking - "cinnamon??". It may seem odd to use this spice in anything except for dessert. However, cinnamon is actually commonly used in savory dishes in middle eastern cooking. It's the kind of thing that you may never think about trying, but once you do, you'll love it. The key to cooking savory food with cinnamon is to keep it as a background flavor so that it doesn't overpower the rest of the spices in the dish.

This recipe is based on a recipe from The Joy of Cooking called "Chicken Tagine With Chickpeas". However, it isn't actually cooked in a tagine, nor is it slow cooked, so I've changed the name here. (More about tagines in a future post - I actually do have my very own tagine and I love cooking with it.)

The technique used in this recipe is to brown the ingredients in layers, and then combine everything in the pot with some liquid and spices. In this case, the meat is browned first and then removed from the pan, to make room for the onions. After softening the onions and scallions, the meat is added back to the pan, with chickpeas, spices and water, to form a spicy broth. Simmering the broth for a few minutes allows the flavors to combine and keeps the meat really tender.

I've modified the original recipe to use cubes of chicken breast, instead of whole chicken parts. I've also added some thinly sliced zucchini mid-way through cooking. The zucchini maintains some of it's crunch and compliments the other flavors in the dish nicely.

I like to serve this over a bed of white rice mixed with cilantro. The cilantro in the rice compliments the garnish and makes the rice a little less plain. In fact, you can use this trick any time you want to spice up your white rice.

I think it would be pretty straightforward to make a vegetarian version of this dish. You could substitute tofu for the chicken, or just leave it out altogether.

This is what it looks like:



And here is the recipe:

Moroccan Style Chicken and Chickpeas
(serves 2-3)

2 Tbsp olive oil, or 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil for extra flavor
1 chicken breast, about .5-.75 pounds
1 onion, small to medium, chopped
1 bunch of scallions, chopped (I like to use both the green part, as well as the white part, except for the bulb at the very bottom.)
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I like to rinse them right in the can, using the lid as an aid to drain.)
3/4 cup of water, or broth, but be sure to adjust the seasoning if you use broth
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
3/4 tsp ground ginger (I don't think that substituting fresh ginger would give quite the same flavor but let me know if you try it!)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp chili pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper, several generous grinds
1 zucchini, medium size, cut in half once lengthwise and thinly sliced, about 1.5-2 cups chopped zucchini
cilantro
1 cup uncooked white rice

Cut the chicken breast into 1 inch cubes. Add the olive oil to a large pot and heat up over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown just until no longer pink on all sides. The chicken shouldn't be cooked through at this stage - it will finish cooking later. Remove the chicken.

Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes, adding more olive oil if the pan begins to dry out. Add the scallions and cook until the onions are softened and translucent.

Add the chickpeas, water, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and chili pepper. Return the chicken to the pan and stir everything together until well combined.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and then simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Add the zucchini, with a little more salt and pepper. Cover again and simmer for 5 more minutes.

At this point, it's time to uncover, taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning. You could add up to another 1/4 tsp each of ginger, salt and/or cinnamon, so adjust to your taste. If desired, you can also raise the heat and boil some of the extra liquid off to make the sauce thicker.

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. After cooking and while the rice is still warm, stir in a handful of roughly chopped cilantro. The heat of the rice will wilt the cilantro.

Serve the chicken and chickpeas over a bed of the rice, and garnish with cilantro.