Berlin Curd Cheese Cookies (Berlins’ke Pechyvo).

Berlin Curd Cheese Cookies (Berlins’ke Pechyvo) - The Washington Post


Serve these soft, rich bites with tea.
You’ll need a 10cm/4-inch round cookie cutter (or a glass that’s as wide).
Make Ahead: The dough needs to be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.
The cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.

ingredients
About 5 1/3 tablespoons (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup low-fat small-curd cottage cheese (Quark from Tesco)
1 1/4 cups flour, plus more for the work surface
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar

Combine the butter and cottage cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer; beat on low speed until well incorporated.
Stop to scrape down the bowl.
Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture; beat on low speed to form a dough.

Generously flour a work surface; turn out the dough there, then knead for a few minutes, until the dough is less sticky.
Shape it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (and up to 1 day).

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch/1cm (about 14 inches/35cm across).
Flour the cutter each time you use it; you should create a total of 20 to 22 rounds of dough; reroll scraps as needed.

Pour the sugar into a wide, shallow bowl.
Dip one side of each round of cookie dough into the sugar, then fold into a half-moon so the sugared side becomes the interior.
Dip one side of each half-moon into the sugar; fold again so the sugar is on the outside.
Each cookie should look like a folded quarter-pie slice; place on the baking sheets at least 1/2 inch/1cm apart.

At this point, if the dough feels soft, place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees/175C, keeping the shaped cookies chilled.

Bake (middle rack) one sheet at a time for 30 to 40 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden all over, turning the sheet from front to back halfway through. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat to bake the remaining cookies.

from “Mamushka: A Cookbook,” by Olia Hercules