Romanian Cornulete Recipe, some fantastic cookies filled with jam and Turkish Delight. Super easy to make, and quick too, these cookies simply melt in the mouth.
I love cookies of all kind, that's hardly any secret. Probably because I'm a heavy English tea drinker, and a nice cuppa almost begs for some nice cookies or biscuits. Or anything to munch on.
Let's see these scrumptious cornulte cookies or bow tie cookies: regardless of the filling, whether you go for jam, Turkish delight or just a mixture of nuts, nutella, you name it, they are absolutely fantastic. The homemade pastry is the best you can get: flavourful, melting- in-your- mouth tender, just perfect.
Some cookies become tough as soon as you get them out of the oven, but not these little beauties. They will stay perfectly soft for 2-3 days at room temperature. Just store them away in an air-tight container, and you are good.
They are pretty similar to the famous Rugelach recipe, which, as our cornulete, can have various fillings too. If you go for jam, there are a few choices here: blackberry jam, blueberry jam, damson jam or strawberry and rhubarb jam.
Jump to:
How to make Romanian cornulete cu gem
The most common fillings for Romanian cornulete are jam and Turkish delight. And that's what I used as well, I love them both equally, although I tend to prefer the Turkish delight, as the cookies will keep their shape perfectly. Jam tends to spread in the oven, although there are ways to pervent that from happening.
The pastry
The secret to a perfect pastry is using yeast. Not an usual ingredient with cookies, but it works wonders here. It keeps the pastry fresh and beautifully soft, so worth using it.
- in a cup or small jug, add the warm water, 2 teaspoons of dried yeast, a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of flour, mix it, and set aside for 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy ( see pictures 1 and 2)
That's when we know the yeast is still active, and the dough will get the rise it needs to make the best cookies. Do not use the yeast is it's not active anymore, since it won't help the texture of the dough.
- in a large bowl, add the flour, quarter of a teaspoon of salt, the yeast mixture, eggs, soften butter cut into cubes, sparkling water, sugar and sour cream and use your hands to knead the dough ( see pictures 3 and 4)
Note! The dough should come together nicely, but still be just a bid sticky so that the cookies can be wrapped together nicely. The dough should not be too sticky not to be able to roll it, but enough to seal it perfectly around the filling.
- use a rolling pin to roll the dough (you'll need to do it in 2 batches, so use half of the dough first), the use a sharp knife to cut squares (see pictures 5 and 6)
How to add the filling to the cookies
If you use Turkish delight, that's the easy option. Just cut it into strips, and top each square, then bring the edges together to create a bow tie (see video). What I like about the Turkish delight is that not only is super delicious, and you can find it in pretty much any flavour you wish, but it keeps its shape perfectly during baking.
If you use jam, you have to be careful not to add too much, otherwise it spreads during baking ( see picure 7). Also, be sure to wrap the dough tightly, otherwise the cookies will spread in the oven and won't keep the bow it shape.
As for the kind of jam to use, I'd go for a jam that is not too runny, but can be pretty much any flavour you like (I use cherry jam).
Other jam-filled cookies
Looking for more jam-filled cookies? How about my Easy Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies? Or perhaps the Linzer Cookies? They are all super delicious, and super simple too.
If you’ve tried these CORNULETE COOKIES or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Cornulete Recipe
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 650 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoon dried fast-action yeast
- 50 g sugar
- 50 ml warm water
- 50 ml sparkling water
- 2 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 100 g sour cream
- 50 g sugar
- 200 g butter, soften
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- ¼ cup cherry jam (or any other jam) (or any other jam)
- 1 cup Turkish delight
Instructions
- To make the pastry, pour the warm water in a cup or small jug, add the yeast, one teaspoon of sugar and one teaspoon of flour, and mix well.
- Set aside for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, and make a well in the middle.
- Add the salt, yeast mixture, sparkling water, eggs, soften butter cut into cubes, sugar, sour cream and vinegar.
- Knead into a dough, adding more flour if necessary until we get a dough that comes together nicely, and it's just slightly sticky, but can still be rolled without sticking to the work surface,
- Cut the dough into half, and roll the first half with a rolling pin, then cut squares of approximately 2 inches each.
- If you use Turkish delight, cut it into strips, then add it to each square, then bring two opposite corners together and wrap to have the shape of a bow tie (see photos).
- If you use jam, add about half a teaspoon of jam into a strip, then fold.
- Bake int he preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for about 30 minutes or until golden.
Video
Notes
- If you'd like to see the measurements in CUPS and OUNCES, please click on the US CUSTOMARY link.
- The amount of ingredients can be adjusted according to the number of servings you need, please click on the number of servings to change it.
Ruth
I've made these for almost 50 years, but with cream cheese crust and blueberry pie filling. I can't wait to try this recipe. They sound absolutely scrumptious!!!!!
Daniela Apostol
I hope you enjoy the recipe, it's absolutely delicious! I love the idea of adding blueberry pie filling!