Old armenian restaurant had armenian, greet, and other pastries, including a sesame cookie ...?!
Answers: for a decade or so i waxed nostalgic for the lost cookies until about ten or so year ago when i realized i could type in "finikia" - the name of one of the cookies, and lo and behold, i rediscovered one of my long-losts! howver, the sesame cookie has proven way more elusive. the sesame cookies were large flat rounds covered in seeds, very savory, i don't know how/what. two weeks ago, as part of a different recipe discussion, i came across a recipe for ka'ak, i think they are called, a very simple recipe which includes the middle eastern spice mahlab, ground cherry pit - the recipe looked easy enough so i asked a lebanese coworker if they are any good, and she said they usually are covered in sesame seeds! so i got really excited, hoping ... anyway, perhaps because the recipe is indeed wrong, or perhaps because i made up how to make them happen (i roasted sesame seeds until a bit browned, and mixed the cookie dough, and quickly rolled dabs of dough to {cont'd}
Some Armenian cookie recipes..I don't know what ka'ak is, the only thing I can think of is kaimak which is one of those indescribable Armenian foods "sort of" like a very heavy whipped cream, "sort of" like Crème Fraiche and "sort of " like a rich, soft flan…but is really nothing exactly like any of them – or anything else for that matter. While it can be served just as it is, with a bit of honey drizzled over it, it really is far better as an accompaniment to fruit desserts.
Sesame butter cookie (SUSAM ANOUSH)
1? cups unsalted butter
1? cups shortening
1? sugar
4 eggs
1 sm. can evap. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. B.P.
10 cups sifted flour
sesame seeds
Melt butter and shortening together and beat mixture in electric mixer for 5 minutes. Add sugar, beat 2 minutes. Add eggs, beat 3 minutes. Add can milk, vanilla and baking powder and beat 5 minutes more until fluffy. Then slowly add the sifted flour and knead. Roll dough with the palm of your hands into strips ?" to ?" in diameter. Cut into 3" pieces Dip individual pieces in sesame seeds and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 350F oven. To make a crisp cookie, turn oven off and let cookies sit in oven for 3 to 4 minutes longer.
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Famous throughout the Middle East, these thin, dry cookies with a topping of golden sesame seeds are among my favorites.
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. water
2-1/2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup water
2 tbsp. coarsely chopped pistachios (optional)
Scatter the sesame seeds on a baking sheet and toast in a 350-degree oven until a light golden brown.
Combine the honey with the (1 tbsp.) water and use to moisten the sesame seeds. Spread in a saucer.
Stir together the flour, baking powder, and sugar.
Cut in the butter, as if you were making pie crust dough. Gradually add the (2/3 cup) water until the dough is smooth.
Form balls of dough the size of walnuts and dip one side of each ball into the sesame seed mixture to coat. The bottom side may be very lightly touched to the pistachios. Place on greased baking sheets, sesame side up.
Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
U can actually order this kind online from Armenian bakery which is in California..here is the web for you
http://www.sarkispastry.com/barazeh1.htm...
Good luck and hope I helped and maybe one of the recipes will turn out to be the one you were looking for!:)
P.S. Check out that website too, they have great desserts there and it is really great that they ship anywhere in the US and Canada.
what type of sesame seeds did you use?