Recipe: LA FOI (“FAITH”) HOLIDAY COOKIES

Our wooden cookie molds, artist-made in Iraq to last for generations, are traditionally used to make cookies called kleicha. But they also lend themselves well to shaping a variety of cookies. These buttery cookies coated in cinnamon sugar, developed by Katherine J. Slevin, are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Photo by Chase Moore/Preemptive Love.

YIELD: 21 COOKIES
BAKING TIME: 10-12 MIN

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (8 oz.) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (7.1 oz.) granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups (10.3 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (5 oz.) whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (3.4 oz.) granulated sugar
• 1/2 TB ground cinnamon


Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F (or convection oven to 325F).
  2. Begin by making cookie dough: in a Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric hand mixer on medium speed, cream together granulated sugar and unsalted butter until homogeneous and lightly fluffy.
  3. Add egg and almond extract, and continue to mix on medium-low speed, stopping mixer to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl as necessary.
  4. Finally, combine both flours and kosher salt together and add. Mix on medium speed until dough comes together (at first it will look crumbly, but continue to mix until dough is cohesive).
  5. In a separate small bowl, make cinnamon sugar: combine granulated sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.
  6. Using a kitchen scale or small ice cream scoop, weigh out cookies to 1.5 oz. (about the size of a golf ball!) and gently press into Preemptive Love’s Cookie Mold.
  7. Gently peel back dough to maintain imprinted shape and toss in cinnamon sugar. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets, about 1-in apart. Repeat process until all the cookie dough is used.
  8. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until edges of cookies are lightly golden and cookies are baked through. Enjoy with a cup of tea or around a cozy fire!

Shop for a cookie mold for yourself or to gift here. When you bake using our artist-made mold, upload a photo to Instagram and tag #preemptivelove. We’d love to see what you’re baking.


Note:
Recipe developed by Katherine J. Slevin, who has been in the baking and pastry industry for over 17 years, working in the pastry kitchens of award-winning chefs both here and abroad. Her transformative experience volunteering on the island of Lesvos, Greece in 2016 led her to start The C. Love Cookie Project in Portland, Maine as a way to use pastry to give back to the immigrant community. This year C. Love’s mission will continue as a stand-alone nonprofit, The C. Love Baking Academy, offering immigrant women professional pastry and baking training courses. Her goal with C. Love is to highlight immigration through the art of pastry and give immigrant women a support network here in the United States. These cookies are named after C. Love’s very first head baker, Iman (“Faith” in Arabic). You can follow C. Love’s journey on Instagram.

Preemptive Love helped Nalin start a bakery business from her home in a camp for Syrian refugees, in northern Iraq. She used our cookie mold to bake a Syrian version of the traditional Iraqi recipe. Photo by Charlene Winfred/Preemptive Love