Last Updated on May 12, 2021 by Chef Mireille
Sekerpare – Turkish Semolina Cookies are soft and tender cookies, perfect for tea time with citrus flavors.
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It’s time for the monthly event of the Baking Bloggers again and this month’s theme of Turkish, Greek or Cypriot baking I was more than happy to embrace. I love this region of the Mediterranean which is at the crossroads of Europe & the Middle East, yielding a fusion of flavors in their cuisine.
I’ve explored this part of the world quite a lot already. Do check out some of the other Greek & Turkish recipes I’ve whipped up.
Greek & Turkish Recipes
- Keftedes – Greek Meatballs
- Manestra – Greek Orzo Stew
- Greek Tomato Rice
- Galaktaboureko – Greek Custard Pie
- Greek Fruit Salad
- Kourambiedes – Greek Almond Cookies
- Koularakia – Greek Butter Cookies
- Sutlu Irmik Tatlisi – Turkish Semolina Pudding
- Bazlama – Turkish Yogurt Bread
- Menemen – Turkish Breakfast Egg Stew
- Balik Koftesi – Turkish Fish Fritters
- Whole Wheat Lahmacun – Turkish Pizza
- Firinda Makarna – Turkish Mac & Cheese
- Turkish Lamb Pide
- Piyaz – White Bean Salad
Wow after that list, I must really like the multi layered cuisine of this part of the world.
As you can see by some of the recipes above, semolina is a popular grain used in the cuisines of this region. Sekerpare – Turkish Semolina Cookies are one of the most popular Turkish treats. They make frequent appearances with a cup of cay (Turkish tea).
Sekerpare Variations
Although I flavored my version with orange, it is even more common to use lemon.
You can choose to use hazelnuts instead of almonds for the center nut.
After soaking in the syrup, these cookies are super soft and tender – almost cake like.
These are so delicious with the citrus flavor from the syrup.
It's going to be really hard to have just one...
Sekerpare – Turkish Semolina Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup semolina
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 12-14 blanched and peeled almonds
- 2 tablespoons milk
Syrup Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups water
- ¼ cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with non stick spray.
- Make the syrup first since it needs time to cool.
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and orange juice.
- Boil for about 10-15 minute, stirring occasionally,, until a thin syrup consistency.
- Leave to cool.
- Meanwhile, combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine semolina, baking powder and flour.
- Using a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until you have a smooth consistency.
- Add egg and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add half of the flour combination and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add the remaining flour combination and knead by hand until you have a smooth dough that sticks together. The dough will barely stick together. It is a somewhat crumbly dough.
- With wet hands, grab a walnut sized ball of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten into a disc and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Place each cookie a few inches apart and be sure to wet your hands between each cookies to get smooth cookies.
- Press an almond in the center of each cookies.
- Brush the tops with milk.
- Transfer to oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Check the syrup. If it has thickened too much, add a little water and place on the stove and whisk just until you have a smooth consistency, 1-2 minutes.
- Rotate the cookies in the syrup a few times until it is well coated on all sides. Leave the cookies to dry.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out what the other Baking Bloggers whipped up today!
- Alevropita (Greek Thin-Batter Feta Pie) from Tara's Multicultural Table
- Apricot Sekerpare (Turkish Thumbprint Cookies) from Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Baked Kabak Mücver from Sneha's Recipe
- Cypriot Lamb Tavas from Pandemonium Noshery
- Flaounes (Cypriot Cheese Pastries) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Kalo Prama - Cypriot Semolina Cake from Food Lust People Love
- Kreatopita from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Simit (Turkish Sesame Bagels) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Tiropita (Greek cheese pastries) from Caroline's Cooking
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Lovely cookies. I wanted to pull one off the screen and bite into it.
thank you – they are so soft and tender. You really should try them out 🙂
That texture looks perfect! Love the additional flavor from the orange syrup.
yes because the cookies are a little on the dry side and syrup is a flavorful necessity
I love baking with semolina. The nutty flavor is delicious. Your cookies sound fantastic.
they definitely are tasty and especially after soaking in the syrup.
These sound like a tasty cookie! Love the citrus in there.
thank you and they are really delish. You should really try them!
I like that you chose to use orange instead of lemon in these! Yours are so cute and smooth! My apricot version definitely came out more “rustic” looking. That’s secret code for lumpy bumpy!!!
oh I made them twice. I discovered the trick is to make sure your hands are wet for each cookie. You need the water in order to achieve smooth cookies. My first batch was also very “rustic” looking 🙂
A perfect tea-time treat indeed.. the cookies look absolutely Divine !
thank you and they are – they literally just melt in the mouth – se delicious!
The cookies look great. I couldn’t wait to jump to the recipe!! I wonder how easy it would be to replace egg with something else?
You could probably replace egg with yogurt
These cookies remind me of nankhatai. Adding orange juice must be making it flavorful. Cookies look so crunchy and would love to dunk them in some tea.
these are so soft and tender after the syrup soaking – I am sure you would love them!