Almond, walnut and raisin cookies

Almonds are thought to have originated somewhere along the Silk Road in Central Asia. Uzbekistan, at the heart of the Silk Road, is one of the few places in the world where wild almonds still grow and almond trees cover mountaintops. While there are still hundreds of undiscovered almond varieties in Uzbekistan, many Uzbek almonds have been domesticated, including ones we use today.

Some years ago, I visited Uzbekistan to help start a Slow Food project to protect and promote local almond trees and traditional preparations like shirilik, almonds ground in a wooden mortar and mixed with honey, tolkun, toasted almonds, and khashtak, a delicious sweet made with local dried apricots, raisins, honey, walnuts and almonds. You can learn more about the project on the Slow Food’s website here.

Friend and Slow Food project coordinator Marina gave me her family recipe for a baked dessert called “mazurka,” made with nuts and raisins. The original recipe requires baking the entire cake and then breaking it into pieces similar to little rocks before it cools down and becomes too hard. I’ve changed it to use large muffin tins to make the cookies easier to transport, store and share.

The cookies have plenty of dry fruit and if you have one for breakfast, you won’t be hungry until lunch. But I don’t think that you will stop at one! This recipe is very versatile and can be made with more or less sugar or butter for a healthier version. The original recipe didn’t use whole wheat flour but I find it adds to the flavor and texture and makes me feel that I can eat half a batch of them at a time with no guilt. You can also add spices like ground ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon for a festive winter version. Nutty, crunchy and with plenty of sweet raisins, it’s really hard to stop eating these cookies.

For the cookies 

4 ounces unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole almonds

1/2 cup walnuts 

1 cup raisins

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Set aside to cool and then add the sugar and the egg. Mix well with a fork. Combine the baking soda with lemon juice in a tablespoon and add to the mix. Add salt. Stir in the raisins and nuts and mix well with a fork to distribute evenly. Add the flour, half a cup at a time, until well incorporated.

Using a tablespoon or a large ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into 12 large balls. Drop the balls into the wells of two non-stick 6-cup muffin pans, and flatten with your hand to form a cookie. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. 

The cookies keep well for four or five days in an airtight container.