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Shekerchoreyi
Şəkərçörəyi: Azerbaijani crackle-top butter shortbread
Şəkərçörəyi, "sugar bread", is the simplest of the Novruz sweets: small domed shortbreads made from melted butter, icing sugar and flour, whose tops crack in fine lines like dry earth as they bake. They melt in the mouth and leave a powdery sweetness, and families in Ganja and Baku bake big batches in the week before the spring festival to fill trays for visiting neighbours. Some cooks press a hazelnut or a pinch of poppy seeds into the centre. Serve with tea, ideally with a spoonful of quince jam. Chef's tip: let the melted butter cool and turn pale and creamy before mixing; hot butter makes the biscuits spread flat and greasy.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Melt 7 oz butter gently and leave to cool for 15–20 minutes, until thick, opaque and creamy but still soft.
20 minStep 2: Whisk the butter with 5 ½ oz icing sugar for 3–4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp vanilla extract and ¼ tsp ground cardamom.
4 minStep 3: Sift in 11 ½ oz plain flour and ½ tsp baking powder and mix with your hand into a soft, crumbly dough that comes together when pressed. A frequent mistake is adding more flour because it crumbles: that gives hard, dry biscuits. It should feel like soft plasticine.
Step 4: Heat the oven to 350°F (fan 300°F) and line two trays. Roll the dough into 24 walnut-sized balls and press each lightly to a 4 cm dome.
Step 5: Press a 24 hazelnuts or almonds into the centre of each, if using, and space them 3 cm apart.
Step 6: Bake for 18–20 minutes, until the tops are covered with fine cracks and the bases are just golden; the tops should stay pale.
20 minStep 7: Leave on the tray for 10 minutes; they are fragile when hot. Then cool on a rack.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 140 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does shekerchoreyi take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of icing sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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