Shirini Pofaki Gerdoee – gluten-free walnut cookies – شیرینی پفکی گردویی is also known as Pich Anghoshti and is a specialty from the city of Tabriz. These gluten- and lactose-free cookies are popular due to their simple and quick preparation. The dough is also butter- and oil-free. Shape them into small hoops and garnish with a half walnut. The gluten-free walnut cookies are crispy and hollow, with some walnut pieces. The aromas melt together, creating a fragrant bouquet that reminds you of oriental gardens. The roasted walnuts, cardamom, and vanilla give these cookies an irresistible character.

SHIRINI POFAKI GERDOEE – GLUTENFREE WALNUT COOKIES –  شیرینی پفکی گردویی

Walnut cookies are often served for guests and during the Persian New Year Nowrooz. For this special occasion, saffron, cocoa, or rose petals can also be added to the dough. These sweet, aromatic, bite-sized cookies pair perfectly with a cup of Persian tea. You might also be familiar with having plenty of egg yolks left after baking coconut macaroons. Use them for this gluten-free walnut cookies, and don’t discard them. Unlike walnut or coconut macaroons, which are prepared with egg whites, we use only egg yolks.

As a result, they are hollow on the inside and wonderfully crispy after baking, which also makes them last quite long. They are perfect for being filled with friendly, amusing, or creative messages, similar to Chinese fortune cookies for New Year’s Eve or other parties. For perfect Shirini Pofaki Gerodee, all ingredients should be at room temperature. Click here, and find more recipes for Shirinis (cookies) on my blog.

DER KULINARISCHER ADVENTSKALENDER

A festive atmosphere is in the air, and today, I have the honor to open door number 14 of Zorra’s culinary advent calendar at Kochtopf. me. Zorra has some fantastic prizes to win too —so check out her blog, answer the questions, and I wish you best luck to be one of the winners. Behind my door hides the magical recipe for Shirini Pofaki Gerdoee – gluten-free walnut cookies – شیرینی پفکی گردویی. It is one of the most popular cookies for our New Year’s celebration Nowrooz, and it also fits perfectly into the pre-Christmas and Advent seasons.

MAGIC ELF DOOR – NISSEDØR

Have I already told you how much I love the festive atmosphere of the run-up to Christmas? Baking cookies is an essential part of the tradition and other rituals. The Nissedør Tradition originates from Denmark and has been part of my ritual for several years. It adds a magical touch to the pre-Christmas period when the quirky Christmas elf and helper, who has a prankster on his neck, moves into our home during Advent.

We place his tiny magical elf door on the wall and are curious about the tracks he leaves in front of his door or throughout the house. We never actually see the shy and invisible Christmas elf, but he is quite active at night and does odd and funny things. By the way, his name is Nisse, and he assists us with Christmas preparations, delights our hearts, and brings a smile to our faces with his funny and cheeky pranks. Our elf is a hungry and hardworking baker, so we have plenty of recipe ideas for the Christmas elf. Since he moved in with a Persian-German family, he has learned some Persian and international recipes.

7 FUN PRANKS FROM OUR HOUSE

• In front of his door and on the work surface in the kitchen are walnut shells and cookie crumbs! Where could they come from? The elf enjoys baking and left a sweet elf greeting. He baked the walnut cookies overnight and tucked them into the lunchbox as an extra surprise. The elf gave me the recipe, and I’ve written it down for you below.
• Where are my shoes? The elf loves to hide objects of all kinds. Your shoes, the kindergarten bag, school backpack, or other items are missing in the morning. Often, you’ll find things in the most unusual places!
• There are some almonds in front of his little door, and it smells awesome in the kitchen. What could he have done with them? The elf loves candied almonds like those from the Christmas market. So, he got to work overnight and prepared a lot of candied almonds.
• What’s going on in the children’s room? The stuffed animals and nearly empty snack bags are scattered everywhere in the children’s room. Nisse seems to have thrown a wild party with Teddy & Co.
• The kitchen cupboards are open, with open packets of oatmeal, sunflower seeds, almond slivers, sour cherries, and more lying around here and there. It seems like Nisse has prepared our favorite Ajil Granola. Mmmmh… Thank you, Nisse!
• There are tiny boot prints in the flour. Has Nisse been baking again? Yes, as it’s gingerbread time, and Nisse loves gingerbread. So, once again, he has proven himself as a baker and baked crispy gingerbread squirrels. Thank you for leaving some for us, too.
• It’s sparkling everywhere. It’s not only snowing outside but also in front of Nisse’s elf door. Nisse was freezing while shoveling snow and urgently needed a soul warmer for the cold days. So we prepared rice pudding for him, and now he’s lying happily in his bed with a full belly.

INGREDIENTS GLUTEN-FREE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

150 g icing sugar*

3 egg yolks, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract*

1/2 tsp cardamom* (optional)

1/2 tsp lemon juice, room temperature

1 tbsp coconut flakes*

1 tbsp rice flour*

50 g walnuts*

TOPPING

20 walnut halves*

10 g chopped walnuts*

10 g chopped pistachios*

PREPARATION GLUTEN-FREE WALNUT BISCUITS

Preheat the oven to 150°.

Sieve the powdered sugar three times. Beat the eggs with the powdered sugar until you have a light creamy mixture, it took me 15 minutes. If you beat them too short, the cookies will taste of egg yolk. We definitely don’t want that. Gradually add the vanilla extract, cardamom and lemon juice and continue beating until the mixture is very soft. Add the coconut flakes and rice flour. Roughly chop the walnuts and add to the mixture.

Pour the batter into a piping bag or, with the help of two spoons, pipe or place small walnut-sized balls on a baking tray covered with baking paper. The dough may separate slightly during baking. Depending on your taste, place a walnut half, some chopped walnuts or pistachios on each.

Place the cookies in the oven and leave to dry for 10 – 15 minutes. Don’t open the oven door in between. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on the baking tray before removing them, as they are very fragile after baking. But once they have cooled down properly, they remain firm.

You can use the egg whites to make Persian coconut macaroons or walnut macaroons.

BEFARMAYID!

Susan

The items marked with * are affiliate links, referral links. If you buy through this link, I get a small commission. The price stays the same for you and you can easily support my efforts. A big thank you ♥

Save the recipe for later on Pinterest!

Have you cooked this or maybe another delicious recipe of mine? Feel free to leave me a comment below. If you tag your picture on Instagram with @labsalliebe  and use the hashtag #labsalliebe, I won’t miss a post and will be happy to leave you a comment as well. Can’t wait to see your creations.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This website is created by me at my leisure, under the proper use of coffee 🙂. If you like my posts, make me happy by donating one or a few cups of coffee!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Donate an amount of your choice via Paypal.

Sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll email you my latest recipes, travel reports, and trends once or maybe 2x a week for free.