This Famous Estonian Bakery Secret Turns Basic Pantry Ingredients Into a Crispy Treat
You can whip up these classic buttery drop cookies with your kids on a lazy afternoon.
These traditional Valeri cookies are famous across Estonia for their unique, delicate texture. By whipping the rich butter batter until it is completely light and airy, you get a bite-sized treat that stays beautifully soft in the middle while baking up thin and crunchy along the edges.
Ingredients: 1 cup (200g) of softened butter, 1 ⅔ cups (200g) of powdered sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 ⅔ cups (200g) of all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup of small seedless raisins, ⅓ cup of chopped almonds, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar.
Finely chop the seedless raisins and soak them in room-temperature water for 10 to 15 minutes, then drain and squeeze out all the excess moisture.
Chop the almonds with a sharp knife and lightly toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they turn golden and fragrant. Set them aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with a hand mixer until it is light and pale. Sift in the powdered sugar in two separate additions, beating thoroughly after each until the mixture is completely smooth and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating the batter well after each addition. Pour in the vanilla sugar and fresh lemon juice, then continue to whip the mixture for another 5 to 7 minutes until it becomes voluminous.
Sift in the flour in two batches, mixing on medium speed just until a delicate, airy dough forms. Drop in the prepared raisins and toasted almonds, and gently fold them into the dough with a spatula.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a piping bag or two small spoons to drop small portions of the dough onto the sheet, leaving plenty of space between each cookie as they will spread while baking.
Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F) using the top-and-bottom heat setting until the tops are lightly golden and the rims turn a deep brown color. Remove from the oven and slide the warm cookies off the baking sheet immediately to stop the cooking process.
