My paternal grandparents were Romanian and although we had some Romanian style dishes growing up, my gramma never made Romanian sweet treats. At church I always looked at all the Romanian desserts and wondered what they tasted like!
Today, it’s Day 2 of the 12 Days of Cookies and I’m super excited to be making this Romanian cookie! A little taste of my heritage!
These delicious cookies, called Turtă Dulce (pronounced toor-ta dool-chay) are a Romanian gingerbread cookie. They’re a spiced, soft cookie covered in a glaze, similar to German gingerbread, Lebkuchen or Pfeffernüsse. These cookies are not overly sweet and the lemon glaze is a nice balance to the spices. So yummy with a cup of tea!
Let’s get started!
Whisk eggs, sugar and honey together until light.
It will look a little foamy.
Add 1 cup flour, baking soda and spices along with the grated ginger. Mix altogether.
Add remaining flour and little at a time. Dough should not be sticky but will be soft. Add a little extra flour if needed. Here’s my dough ready to be scooped!
Roll into balls or you can cut out into shapes too if you like. I used my small cookie scoop to scoop the dough.
Place on a silicone mat on a baking sheet or on parchment. I scooped the dough onto my flexible cutting mat.
Place in fridge. Let rest several hours in the fridge or overnight.
Place cookies on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350F until browned.
Prepare a glaze with icing sugar, lemon juice and water. Dip each cookie in, place on cooling rack to excess glaze can drip off and let set.
So yummy!
Romanian Turtă Dulce Cookies
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Fresh grated ginger
Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Enough water for a pourable glaze
Whisk eggs, sugar and honey. Add 1 cup flour and spices. Mix altogether. Add remaining flour slowly. Dough should be soft but not sticky. Roll into balls or roll out and cut into shapes. Let rest several hours in the fridge or overnight. Bake in a well greased pan at 350F until browned.
Prepare a glaze with icing sugar, lemon juice and water. Dip each cookie in and let set.
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours