This is another Nowruz cookie that requires very few ingredients, but calling it a cookie doesn’t quite feel right. It’s more like a crisp meringue. It was also my great-grandmother’s specialty. Every Nowruz, she and her sisters got together to make hundreds of these over the course of an entire day. These family members didn’t have electricity, so they beat the eggs by hand, which was tiring and timeconsuming, and then baked them in a wood-burning tanoor oven—tanoor is the Iranian word for tandoor. Parchment paper wasn’t commonly used back then, so they lined copper trays with old newspapers instead. I visualize these women and this process every time I make these treats, feeling gratitude for this recipe—and electric mixers!
Get the backstory to this recipe by listening to Roya Shariat and Gita Sadeh describe their cookie traditions on a recent episode of Seasoned.
Crispy Egg Yolk and Walnut Cookies (Noon Tokhmorghi)
Ingredients
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 3 tbsp finely chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the mixture is light in color and elastic. With the mixer on low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar by the spoonful and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and cardamom and continue mixing for 30 seconds. With a wooden spoon, gently stir in the walnuts.
- Grab the batter little by little, in roughly 2 tsp increments, and place small cookie drops on the parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies puff up. The bottoms of the cookies should be a very light brown—if they are darker than that, they’re overbaked. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before serving. Noon tokhmorghi will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
Recipe reprinted with permission from Maman and Me by Roya Shariat and Gita Sadeh (PA Press, an imprint of Chronicle Books, 2023). Photography by Farrah Skeiky.