Makoviichyky (маковійчики, Makoviy poppy cookies)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A dry frying pan for toasting poppy
• •A mortar and pestle or spice grinder
• •Two baking trays
• •Small cookie cutters

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the poppy

   Tip the poppy seeds into a dry pan over a low flame and shake them often until they smell nutty and a shade darker. They should sound like fine rain against the pan, not crackle angrily. Pour them out at once, then crush half of them in a mortar or pulse briefly in a grinder so their oil perfumes the dough.

   This is the step that matters. Toasted and bruised poppy gives flavor; raw poppy mostly gives dots.
2. 2

   Make the dough

   Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and toasted poppy together. In another bowl, beat the soft butter, honey, and sugar until creamy and pale at the edges, then beat in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest. Stir in the flour mixture until the dough gathers into a soft, speckled mass.

3. 3

   Rest it cold

   Pat the dough into a flat block, cover it, and chill until it firms enough to roll without smearing butter on your hands. It should feel cool and obedient, not hard as a brick. If it cracks at the edges, let it sit a few minutes and it will forgive you.

4. 4

   Shape the cookies

   Heat the oven to 180C and line two trays with baking paper. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 5 mm thick, then cut small rounds, crescents, or diamonds. Gather scraps gently and reroll once; after that, bake the odd little pieces for the cook.

5. 5

   Bake until honeyed

   Bake until the edges turn golden and the tops look dry but still tender in the middle. The kitchen should smell of toasted seed, butter, and warm honey. If the bottoms are dark before the tops color, your tray is too low, move the next one higher.

6. 6

   Brush and cool

   Warm the extra honey until loose, then brush a thin shine over the cookies while they are still warm. Let them cool on the tray until they firm, then pile them generously. The glaze should catch the poppy on the surface, not soak them wet.

Chef Tips

• •If your poppy seeds smell dusty before you toast them, buy new ones. Old poppy turns bitter, and honey can't charm bitterness away.
• •Buckwheat honey makes a darker, stronger cookie; acacia or sunflower honey keeps them lighter. Both belong on the table, just in different moods.
• •The dough forgives different shapes. What it won't forgive is hot hands and warm butter, so chill it whenever it starts smearing.
• •A little smetana in the dough is a modern kindness if your flour drinks more than mine. Add it only when the dough refuses to come together.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can rest in the fridge overnight. Let it soften slightly before rolling.
• •The baked cookies keep well in a tin for 5 days, and the honey scent deepens by the second day.
• •Toast the poppy the same day you mix the dough if you can; that is when its aroma is loudest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 14g)