Sochniki - Crispy Cookies With Sweet Cheese
Today I want to show you a delicious dessert, home inspired. You will most certainly find sochniki in Russian pastry shops - which are a sort of crispy cookies filled with sweet cheese. Russian origin, they are very popular in the post-soviet space and there is a reason why. The tender crisp combines so well with the savoury cheese in this easy to make shape which looks so special.
They are perfect for a school lunchbox or as a packed dessert, they are delicious either warm or cold - therefore, suited for any taste and situation.
Combine 150g softened butter with 180g sugar and 2 eggs in a bowl.
Add in 200g cream or yogurt, mix.
Then incorporate little by little (not all at once) 550-600g flour, 0.5 tsp salt and 10g baking powder.
At first, mix with a spatula or a spoon until dough starts to come together.
Turn dough out onto a working space and knead with your hands until smooth, not sticky and soft. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Dust with flour, if needed, in the process.
While dough is resting, we prepare the cheese filling:
- in a bowl, combine farmer's cheese, 150g sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp semolina, 50g cream, 1 egg and vanilla extract.
Roll the dough out into a large sheet about 3-4mm thick.
Cut out circles of about 8-10cm, use a big mug for this, a saucer or a small bowl - there must be something this size in your kitchen.
Place 1 spoon cheese filling onto each circle.
Fold the dough over to cover the filling.
Don't seal the edges, let them loose.
Arrange the cookies onto a baking sheet, lined with parchment.
Brush the tops with eggwash.
Bake in the preheated oven to 200 degrees C for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Notice that the filling won't run, even though the edges aren't sealed.
They are delicious, either warm or cold, we loved them.
Enjoy!
