Coconut for the holiday

Each Jewish holiday has its own traditional sweet. On Purim it’s “Ears of Haman”, on Hanukkah it’s sufganiyet, and on Passover it’s coconut cookies. Coconuts were brought to Europe only at the beginning of the 19th century, but the Jewish tradition of making coconut cookies for Passover had already been established.

There are two types of Easter coconut cookies - with and without almond flour. The first recipe, with almond flour, is older and originates from almond pasta. And they, in turn, appeared in Jewish cuisine back in the 13th century.

You will need:

4 large egg whites

1 tbsp. Sahara

1 tbsp. spoon of potato starch

1 teaspoon salt

1 tbsp. spoon of honey

2 ½ tbsp. coconut flakes

For chocolate glaze:

200 g chocolate

However, two centuries is not such a short period of time. Two hundred years ago, around the same time that Napoleon’s troops were marching victoriously across Europe, Jewish confectioners came up with the idea of adding coconut flakes to macaroons. And the process began. Nowadays, coconut cookies are even more common than almond cookies. And there are a great many variations: with almonds, chocolate, matzo, honey and even caramel.

Cooking method

Beat the whites with sugar and then add all the other ingredients. Place the mixture on low heat and keep it there for 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly so that the excess liquid evaporates and the dough acquires the desired consistency. Place the resulting dough on a baking sheet covered with paper. You can do this with a spoon, but it’s better to use a culinary syringe - this way the cookies will have a more attractive appearance.

Heat the oven to 180–190 degrees, place the cookies in it and bake for 18–20 minutes. Then cool the cookies, melt the chocolate and dip each cookie in the chocolate. Pour the remaining chocolate into a culinary syringe and apply drawings and patterns to the cookies. Bon appetit and happy Passover!

Anna Markova