Day 19: 25 Days of Christmas, Cookie Style
As most of you know, I’m half Persian. This is my favorite Persian cookie. I would find them on occasion at the Persian Market around Persian New Year time. Never attempted to make them on my own. I was looking thru other fellow bloggers pages and came across a recipe for it on The Pomegranate Diaries. I can’t even explain to you how excited I was to see a recipe for it. I immediately wanted to make them right away. Verdict: They are just like the ones from the store!! I even shipped some home for my parents to try and my dad absolutely LOVED them! The cookies are on the crispy side on the edges, but the centers are chewy. Perfect with a cup a Persian Tea!
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon ground saffron dissolved in 1 tsp hot water (optional)
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raisins
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes, until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and saffron water; beat until incorporated. Slowly add the flour on low speed of the mixer. Mix until it forms a dough.
- Fold in raisins.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop, drop teaspoonful sized cookies onto cookie sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake 15 minutes until golden around the edges. Cool for 4 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Store in an airtight container.
MAKES 4 DOZEN.
Tip #1: The saffron is totally optional in recipe. It can be very “fragrant” when initially done baking, but I let the cookies air out a bit. After a few days, the saffron fragrance is very subtle. You can easily increase the vanilla up to 1 tsp. if not using saffron.
It says that you need salt, but it doesn’t say what to do with it. Should I just add it with the flour, or..?
Yes add with dry ingredients.
Thank you! I made it a while ago, and my parents (from Iran) loved it. Ever since, my dad keeps telling me to make more. Great and simple recipe!
Is it salted butter or unsalted
You can do either. It doesn’t make a huge difference either way.
Is there usually rose water in these? Making them as we speak and so excited to show my husband. I am Canadian :) he is Persian
No rose water but you can easily add just a touch to the recipe if he prefers that.
First batch out omg I wish I could send you a picture, haven’t tasted them yet but they look just like the ones we buy at bakery
Yay!!!! Can’t wait for you to taste them. I know I can’t just eat one. Hope your hubby loves them just as much!!
So I brought my Persian raisin cookies to a few people as gifts and was talking to my sister in law who is Persian and asked her that I felt that there was something missing… could it be cardomon?
Still delicious tho :)
I have made these cookies 2x now. They have come out delicious both times. However, they come out really brown around the edges and really flat. It’s almost like a flat cake. What do I have to do to make them more plump like cookies? Please help. Thanks :)
As far as brown around the edges, they should be slightly brown so you may need to bake a little under the time. As far as being flat and spreading out, This is the style of cookie – it’s not the typical American cookie and doesn’t rise. It’s a crisper thin cookie to eat with tea.
This recipe is fantastic. They come out just like the ones from my favorite bakery in California. I live in Seattle so don’t get to go there often. So nice that I am able to access this treat year-round now! When I tried the recipe, 15 min baking time was too long. I baked for about 10-11 minutes and they came out just browned up and crisp around the edges. Longer probably would have been too long in my oven. Thanks for this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed!!! They are one of my favorites. I’ve moved to a new place since I posted this recipe and noticed i needed to cook like 2 min less time as well because of my oven type
My hole house smells like butter & saffron! Oh my goodness these are just like the ones my aunt & uncles send me from a bakery in Glendale! There were my dad’s favorites! Thank you for posting the recipe.
Yay! I’m so glad you tried and enjoyed! I just recently made a batch 2 weeks ago and they didn’t last long in our household!!
Sara: You made my day! I love these cookies and have been looking for recipes because they are not sold where I live. Tried a few that turned out to be very disappointing. I found yours and just made them. They are SUPERIOR! simply the best. Thank you!
Awww thank you! So glad you guys enjoyed. They are one on my favorites! So simple too!
So delicious! Just made for my husband and daughter and okay me too!! I missed these from my days in Westwood where there were wonderful Persian bakeries. I have made these without the saffron as I didn’t have any in the house but next time I will venture out to get it! Thank you so much!
Very tasty
Hello!
These are my favorite Persian cookies! I finally attempted to make them and they came out delicious except they became hard. I followed the directions exactly. Any suggestions?
You might have to cook for less time and/or remove off cookie sheet sooner. It could be a variety of reasons depending on location of where you live, oven temps, etc. but that would be my initial recommendations. Thanks so much for the comment! So glad you loved them!
I love this easy recipe! I like to use currants so I can get a taste with every bite. So happy to make them for Nowruz . Everyone is so impressed that an American can make an authentic Persian cookie. My husband is Persian and he loves them.
Going to make today. Been looking in my Persian cookbook but didn’t find a recipe for them. So happy to find yours. Do you have a recipe for lamb shank with the traditional broth and garbanzo beans like abgusht dried limes? I am Spanish and married a Persian man we had 7 children and they ate Persian food every day. I had a good’slov teacher his mother showed me all he foods they loved. Sadly my husband passed away 26 years ago and all kids are grown with families of their own and each of them have learned to make their favs we lost mama Talat 2 years ago but her food lives on. So many other recipes we never tried yet. I will carry traditional for my kids and Grand kids. Thanks for your website.