Un Kurabiyesi (Melt-in-the-Mouth Flour Cookies)
Four-ingredient Turkish shortbread cookies that dissolve on the tongue: butter, powdered sugar, flour and a little starch, dusted generously with icing sugar.
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Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
120g powdered sugar, plus plenty extra for dusting
420g plain flour, sifted
2 tbsp wheat starch
1 sachet (10g) baking powder
1 sachet (5g) vanilla sugar
A pinch of salt
Baking paper, for lining the tray
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 170C fan (or 180C conventional) and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- 2
Beat the soft butter with the powdered sugar for 3-4 minutes until pale and creamy; this aeration is what makes the cookies dissolve on the tongue.
- 3
Add the vanilla sugar and salt, then sift in the flour, wheat starch and baking powder in two additions.
- 4
Bring the dough together with light hands just until it forms a soft, non-sticky ball. If it feels greasy and loose, rest it in the fridge for 15 minutes; do not add extra flour straight away.
- 5
Roll walnut-sized pieces into balls and place them on the tray with 3cm gaps. Leave them domed, or press lightly with a fork for a classic ridged top.
- 6
Bake for 15-18 minutes until the bottoms are barely golden but the tops remain pale; colour means overbaked, so err on the light side.
- 7
Cool on the tray for 10 minutes (they are fragile while warm), then dust generously with powdered sugar. Once fully cool, dust again and store in an airtight tin for up to a week.
Un kurabiyesi, literally "flour cookie", is the quiet hero of the Turkish biscuit tin. There is no chocolate, no filling, no decoration beyond a snowfall of powdered sugar, yet these little domes vanish faster than anything else at tea time. The texture is the whole point: they should crumble at first touch and melt on the tongue like halva.
Getting that melt-in-the-mouth texture comes down to three things. Use proper butter at room temperature and beat it well with the powdered sugar. Add a spoonful of wheat starch alongside the flour, which is the traditional trick for tenderness. And handle the dough as little as possible; the moment it comes together, stop kneading.
Everything you need, from Turkish flour and wheat starch to quality butter and powdered sugar, is a few clicks away at Turkish Online Market. Brew a proper pot of Rize tea, dust the cookies generously, and accept that the first batch never survives the afternoon.
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