Way back in May, a reader made a comment on one of our blog items, which we only realized a few days ago.
Please understand that we were still learning the “how – to’s” of doing our website at the time. It wasn’t until the other day, when another reader tried to offer help, that we realized the original request even existed.
Please forgive us!
Here’s the request, as quoted from the Anonymous reader’s comment last May:
“I’m looking for a recipe for an Armenian cookie that I know as “Sodale”. My recipes were destroyed during a home invasion. I remember that my mother had to heat the milk before adding it to the dry ingredients. The dough was rolled out into long ropes and then cut into 1 ½ inch pieces. I believe my mother also used a milk wash on the cookie before placing in the oven. It’s been over 30 years since I’ve tasted this cookie and I hope that someone can help me find this taste again.”
If anyone can offer a recipe suggestion, please send it to me via e-mail: robyn@thearmeniankitchen.com so I can post it for “Anonymous”. Thanks, friends!
I have 2 thoughts: one is the cookie recipe I posted on December 7th which uses warm milk in the mixture, but doesn’t require brushing milk on top; the other is a cookie recipe from the “Assyrian Cookbook” I mentioned in an earlier blog. The recipe doesn’t call for heated milk – or brushing the top with milk, but the shaping appears to be similar. It’s called Kahkee (cookie), and the recipe follows:
Kahkee (cookie)
8 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
2 Tbsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
1 cup shortening, softened
1 cup milk
5 eggs
1 pkg. Yeast – dissolved in ½ cup lukewarm water
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½ tsp. Sugar
1 egg
Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients together.
Add shortening, milk, eggs and yeast mixture.
Cover and let rise.
Take dough the size of a walnut. Roll into sticks or make circles (like doughnuts).
Brush tops with one egg beaten with ½ tsp. sugar.
Bake on greased pan at 350◦F till lightly browned.
I keep comming back to your blog to read your vignettes as well as your recipes. When I saw the Armenian Cookie recipe in December, I thought it might be the end of my search. I haven't had time to make them. BUT___ It's been thirty years and I think I can hold out just a bit longer. Actually, I think that I just don't want to find out that it's not my dream recipe. I'll let you know the verdict after I try these recipes. Thank you for the recipes and all of your efforts. They are greatly appreciated. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Adriana
I understand what you're saying. Try the cookie recipe from the Dec. blog, brush with milk before baking, and see what happens. Who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Thanks for following The Armenian Kitchen! Happy New Year to you as well.
Robyn
I have a recipe for Kahke with Yanesoun (Anise Seed Circles with Sesame) from a cookbook called Tasty Armenian Dishes that appears to be published by the ladies of the First Armenian Evangelican Church in Montreal. It involves mixing lukewarm milk and egg and brushing the mixture over the cookies before baking. I'd be happy to scan the recipe and send via email.
Robyn says:
Thanks so much! Please do scan & e-mail the recipe to me at: robyn@thearmeniankitchen.com.
I'll try making and testing these also. It's a hard job, but somebody has to do it!
Your help is appreciated.
hey there!
i just made these and they are great 🙂 we had them with cheese.
I have a similar shaped and looking type cookie that week called Kaak (was spelled different by different people). But it had a lot of different ingredients (ground Mahleb, nutmeg, orange water) and then some of them were stuffed with a pecan, sugar, and orange water mixture. Mine take forever and we make them in ridiculously sized batches (either use a 5 or 10lb bag of flour) and the old lore was they had to be stored in a white pillowcase (why white, I have no idea). I had Kadaif for the first time tonight and came across your recipe and I am looking forward to making it. I like the site.