EGG “BOW TIE” COOKIES (EIR KICHLAH)

LESSON OBJECTIVES AND OUTLINE FOR TEACHERS

I. LESSON OBJECTIVES

A. The students will demonstrate their knowledge of proper cooking techniques by preparing the egg bow tie cookies; thereby demonstrating that they know how to:

1. Use an electric mixer.
2. Measure and combine ingredients.
3. Roll out dough.
4. Measure and cut the dough with a pastry cutter.
5. Twist the rectangles into bow tie shapes.
6. Bake the cookies in the oven and remove from the pan.

B. The students will demonstrate their knowledge of the significance of this recipe to Jewish cooking by completing the final Sample Test.

II. KITCHEN ORGANIZATION: TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

A. TIMING

1. If you are able to get your students busy as soon as they come in, it is not necessary to bake some of these ahead. There is usually enough time to make the dough, roll it out, shape it, and bake all within a 40-minute period so that the students can taste them.

2. If you have students that must be kept busy all the time, make a batch of dough ahead so that they can begin rolling and shaping right away while a few of the others are making the dough. The dough should be divided into workable-sized balls.

3. If there is a large class, a doubled batch will only yield about 6 or 7 workable balls, so you can either make a batch ahead, or have a small group prepare another double batch while the first is being rolled out by the rest of the students. Additionally, you could also assign two students to each ball.

B. TECHNIQUES

1. The dough is a better texture to work with if the eggs are beaten until light and fluffy as called for in the recipe.

2. If really pressed for time, the dough will roll out without the 5-minute resting period.

3. Use a ruler to cut the strips. Make the approximately one-inch strips by cutting on either side of the ruler. Cut into three-inch lengths by making the first perpendicular cut at one edge and then flipping the ruler over twice more before making the next cut.

4. These cookies should be rolled neither too thin, nor too thick so that they are easier to handle and bake uniformly. Check each student's dough before they begin to cut to make sure it is the correct and uniform thickness.

5. The cookies are particularly good when eaten warm from the oven. They also freeze very well if any are left over.

6. Usually after one class leaves there are little pieces of dough mixed in with the sugar all over the table. This all can be salvaged quickly by pushing everything together into a pile with a pastry scraper and then straining it through a sieve. The leftover dough pieces can be combined with the dough prepared by the next class, and the sugar is clean enough to spread out again and reuse for rolling.

7. This recipe is very durable and there seems to be almost no limit as to how many times the dough can be re-rolled and how much sugar can be incorporated.

III. FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A. Ask the students if they are familiar with these treats. Most Jewish bakeries sell them. Although they are very plain and light, they are usually better than the bakery ones because they are eaten so fresh.

B. These cookies are pareve. This would be a good opportunity to discuss the convenience of non-dairy desserts that could follow a meat meal. Also, when used for a snack, these cookies could be eaten without waiting a long time after a meat meal. Because meat takes a longer time to digest than dairy products, it is customary to wait before eating dairy products. For German and Western European Jews, this waiting time is three hours. For Eastern European Jews, it is six hours. The prevailing custom for Dutch Jews is 72 minutes.

MATERIALS EIR KICHLAH

• 2 dozen large eggs
• 1 bag granulated sugar
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• vanilla extract
• 1 bag all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• non-stick spray

• electric mixer
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• plastic wrap
• rolling pins
• fluted pastry wheels
• ruler
• baking pans
• metal spatula
• rubber spatulas
• pot holders
• dishwashing liquid
• dish towels
• dish cloths

FOR THE STUDENTS:

EGG “BOW TIE” COOKIES (EIR KICHLAH)⁷

    “There are dozens of variations of these very popular light cookies. Some are made with a stiff, rolled dough, others with a softer dough that is ‘dropped’ onto the baking sheet. Some use copious amounts of oil, others use none at all. Some call for baking powder, others don’t. Some are barely sweet, others are very sweet. Some are cut into simple squares, rectangles, or circles, others are cut into fancier diamonds or twisted into bow ties.

    “With their Yiddish name, these treats are obviously Ashkenazic. But Sephardic Jews of Turkish and Greek origins use an almost identical dough to make ring-shaped cookies which are coated with sesame seeds. The latter are sometimes called biscochos de huevo, which translates the same as eir kichlah…The cookies are light, pleasantly but not excessively sweet, and easy to make. (This recipe may be doubled; roll it out in two batches for best results.) The method for biscochos de huevo is also included below.”

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 c. sugar (plus more for rolling and topping)
• 3-1/2 T. vegetable oil
• 1/4 t. vanilla extract (optional)
• 1-3/4 c. all-purpose white flour, preferably unbleached
• 1 t. baking powder

DOUBLED:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 7 T. vegetable oil
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 3-1/2 c. flour
• 2 t. baking powder

1. Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs with the 1/4 c. sugar for several minutes until very light and fluffy; then beat in the oil and vanilla (if used).

2. Stir in the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. If the dough is very sticky, add a little more flour.

3. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Using extra sugar, instead of flour, to keep the dough from sticking, roll out the dough to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle more sugar on top and gently press it in with the rolling pin.

5. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut the dough into small squares, rectangles, or diamonds. To make bow ties, cut the dough into rectangles about 1 inch wide by 2-1/2 to 3 inches long. Carefully twist each rectangle twice in the center so that the sugared surface faces upward. Pinch gently into shape in the center.

6. Transfer the cookies to a non-stick spray-coated baking sheet, keeping them at least 1/2 inch apart.

7. Bake the cookies in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are lightly browned. Remove them from the sheet and cool them on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen small, flat cookies or about 2 dozen bow ties.

Variation: Biscochos de Huevo (Sesame Ring Cookies)

    Increase the sugar in the dough to 1/3 cup (or up to 1/2 cup for sweeter cookies). Use floured hands to shape the dough into 1/2-inch-diameter ropes. Cut the ropes into 4-inch-long sections and pinch the ends of each section together to form a ring. Beat 1 egg with 1 t. each of cold water and sugar. Dip the top surface of each ring into the egg mixture and then into hulled sesame seeds. Place the rings on a greased or non-stick spray-coated baking sheet with the seeds facing upward. Bake as directed for eir kichlah. 

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    ⁷Recipe and text from Gloria Kaufrer Greene The Jewish Holiday Cookbook: An International Collection of Recipes and Customs (Published in the United States by Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, 1985), pp. 55-57.