Iranian Rice Cookies (Nan–e Berenji)

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• FOR THE SYRUP
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. rosewater
• FOR THE COOKIES
• 3/4 tsp. sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/3 cup clarified butter or ghee
• 2 1/2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
• 1/4 cup syrup
• 1 tbsp. poppy seeds

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from saveur.com

Preparation

Step 1

MAKES ABOUT 90 COOKIES

1. Make the syrup: Combine sugar and ¼ cup water in a 1-qt. saucepan over high; stir until sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add rosewater. Cool until ready to use.

2. Make the cookies: Heat oven to 350°. Combine sugar and yolk in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until creamy; set aside. In another bowl, combine rice flour, clarified butter, oil, and cardamom; add yolk mixture and mix until evenly combined. Add syrup and mix until combined. Set aside to cool. Roll dough into ⅛ oz. balls, about ¾” thick, and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Gently flatten each ball; using the grooved sides of a meat mallet (alternatively, use a fork), press grooves into cookies to create a pattern. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and bake, rotating halfway through, until cooked, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets as cookies are quite delicate while hot.

I bungled the recipe and improvised with 1/2 c corn oil and accidentally added the ENTIRE batch of rosewater syrup, so my dough was very sticky. I chilled it overnight and scooped using a small teaspoon and with a cornstarch-laden fork made the pattern. Didn't matter regardless and these spread!

I will make this again and see how much the texture changes with only 1/4 cup of the syrup added. I would in the recipe instruct the user to set aside 1/4 cup and chill the rest for later use right after the directions say to let it cool.

2 1/2 tbsp. canola oil was left out of the ingredients but it has been added now. Thanks so much for letting us know!