Ukrainian meat grinder cookies are not just ordinary shortbread pastries … In my country, many generations grew up on these spritz cookies with jam, and for me, they will always remind my carefree childhood and sweet grandma’s smile
Ukrainian meat grinder cookies occupy a special place in my heart
Somehow, yesterday my mind went back to my childhood and I remembered meat grinder cookies (their shape resembled a head of corn, so at home, we always called them “Sweet corn cookies” or spritz cookies with jam). My granny used to make them rather often. She liked to stick the ready shortbread cookies together using a homemade jam. But I have always been very stubborn and had my own procedure for eating these sweets: first I had to lick off the jam and then enjoyed the Ukrainian cookies themselves…
Granny’s spritz cookies with jam recipe
Yesterday my sons asked me to make some sweets together with them, so I found my granny’s recipe for meat grinder cookies. We baked them and then ate them all in no time! I don’t even know who ate more: my husband Robert (who discovered the spritz cookies with jam from my childhood for the first time and was grumbling why I had never made so delicious sweets before), my sons Alessio and Giuliano (that were proudly eating their own cookies) or me, that seemed to be back 25 years…
Ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- soft butter at room temperature
- sugar
- eggs
- vanilla powder
- lemon or orange zest
- baking powder
+ a special cookie press attachment for a meat grinder
Ukrainian cookies step-by-step recipe
Put flour, butter, sugar and baking powder together
Mix to get crumbs
Add grated lemon zest, vanilla and eggs
Mix them to get a soft and smooth pastry. Knead it into a ball, cover with plastic food wrap and leave it in a fridge for 30 minutes
Use a meat grinder with a cookie press attachment (or a cookie press) to make the cookies (just put a little of dough inside the meat grinder and let it come out through the cookie attachment, then cut the cookie bar into portions about 5 cm/2 inches long)
Line the cookies out on a baking sheet covered with a parchment
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and bake the meat grinder cookies for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown color.
What jam can I use for these Ukrainian cookies
Any thick jam is perfect for these meat grinder cookies. My favorite variants are:
- apricot jam
- peach jam
- strawberry jam
- plum jam
But feel free to use your favorite jam, Ukrainian cookies won’t delude you in any case.
Ukrainian cookies with jam (Meat grinder cookies)
Equipment
- cookie press attachment for a meat grinder
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
- 9 oz (250 g) soft butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- 2 eggs
- vanilla powder
- 1 lemon or orange zest
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Put flour, butter, sugar and baking powder together
- Mix to get crumbs
- Add grated lemon zest, vanilla and eggs
- Mix them to get a soft and smooth pastry. Knead it into a ball, cover with plastic food wrap and leave it in a fridge for 30 minutes
- Use a meat grinder with a cookie press attachment (or a cookie press) to make the cookies (just put a little of dough inside the meat grinder and let it come out through the cookie attachment, then cut the cookie bar into portions about 5 cm/2 inches long)
- Line the cookies out on a baking sheet covered with a parchment
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and bake the cookies for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown color. Enjoy
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