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This is exactly the way my mom makes this classic Russian/Ukrainian pryaniki cookie. Its a healthier cookie (absolutely no butter, margarine or shortening!!) The glaze is infused with peppermint making these unique and scrumptious. Let your kids raid the cookie jar for a change!
Pryaniki are soft cookies, almost like dense cake. It makes a wonderful tea cookie. Goes perfectly with a glass of milk.
Watch How To Make Mint Glaze Pryaniki:
Pryaniki Ingredients:
2 large egg yolks (reserve whites for frosting)
2 cups sugar
1 lb (2 cups) sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
*5 cups all-purpose flour, (or 4 1/2 cups if using Canadian flour) plus more flour for hands *measured correctly
*Tip for exact flour measuring: stir flour with a spoon, then spoon it into a dry ingredients measuring cup and scrape off the top with the back of a knife. If you just scoop your measuring cup directly into your flour, it will be more compact so you end up with more flour in your cup which can throw off your recipes.
* Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
Mint Glaze Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
1 tsp pure peppermint extract
1 tsp lemon juice
What you will need:
Parchment paper to line cookie sheets
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
1. In a stand mixer, whisk together 2 egg yolks and 2 cups sugar until consistency of snow, whisk in 2 cups sour cream until creamy.
2. Put 1 tsp baking soda in a small ramekin and add about 1/2 teaspoon vinegar just to get it to bubble, mix it together slightly. Add to the mixing bowl.
3. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla extract then whisk everything together until well blended.
4. Using the dough hook, alowly add flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, so that it mixes more thoroughly. Dough will be very sticky.
5. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon of dough into a well floured hands and form into balls about the size of golf balls and slightly flatten.
6. Place the cookies on prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 350˚ F for 25-28 minutes (mine took 25 min), or until just barely beginning to golden. Remove immediately.
7. As soon as they come out of the oven, dip each cookie into the glaze (see instructions below) and spread the glaze evenly over the tops using your fingers to spread the glaze works best. After it is glazed, place cookie on a cool dry surface for the glaze to dry.
8. By the time you are finished glazing the tops, they will have hardened so you can start turning them over and glazing the bottoms. Make sure glaze completely covers the cookie, it will keep the cookie soft longer. The glaze should become firm quickly, then serve.
How to make Mint Glaze:
1.On high speed (speed 8 on kitchen aid) Beat together the egg whites until it is a thick foam and has tripled in volume (2-3 min).
2. Reduce speed to the lowest setting and add powdered sugar, lemon juice and peppermint extract until well blended. Scrape down the bowl as necessary using a spatula.
3. Set to medium speed (speed 4) for about 2 minutes until it is creamy. It mixes together quickly (do not beat the mixture too much or it will become watery)
Notes: not recommended for babies; raw egg white may irritate their skin, especially in children sensitive to egg.
Mom's Pryaniki with Mint Glaze Recipe - Пряники
Ingredients
Praniki Ingredients:
- 2 large egg yolks, reserve whites for frosting
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 lb 2 cups sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- *5 cups all-purpose flour, (or 4 1/2 cups if using Canadian flour) plus more flour for hands
Mint Glaze Ingredients:
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 cups powdered sugar, confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp pure peppermint extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
What you will need:
- Parchment paper to line cookie sheets
Instructions
How to Make Praniki: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer, whisk together 2 egg yolks and 2 cups sugar until consistency of snow, whisk in 2 cups sour cream until creamy.
- Put 1 tsp baking soda in a small ramekin and add about 1/2 teaspoon vinegar just to get it to bubble, mix it together slightly. Add to the mixing bowl.
- Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla extract then whisk everything together until well blended.
- Using the dough hook, alowly add flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, so that it mixes more thoroughly. Dough will be very sticky.
- Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon of dough into a well floured hands and form into balls about the size of golf balls and slightly flatten.
- Place the cookies on prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 25-28 minutes (mine took 25 min), or until just barely beginning to golden. Remove immediately.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, dip each cookie into the glaze (see instructions below) and spread the glaze evenly over the tops using your fingers to spread the glaze works best. After it is glazed, place cookie on a cool dry surface for the glaze to dry.
- By the time you are finished glazing the tops, they will have hardened so you can start turning them over and glazing the bottoms. Make sure glaze completely covers the cookie, it will keep the cookie soft longer. The glaze should become firm quickly, then serve.
How to make Mint Glaze:
- On high speed (speed 8 on kitchen aid) Beat together the egg whites until it is a thick foam and has tripled in volume (2-3 min).
- Reduce speed to the lowest setting and add powdered sugar, lemon juice and peppermint extract until well blended. Scrape down the bowl as necessary using a spatula.
- Set to medium speed (speed 4) for about 2 minutes until it is creamy. It mixes together quickly (do not beat the mixture too much or it will become watery)
Notes
Hi! Do you have any advice on storing these? Like how long they would last and how they should be packed? Thanks!
Store them at room temp; you can keep them in a ziploc or plastic bag once they cool to room temp and they will be good and soft for 2-3 days; if they last that long 🙂
Is white balsamic vinegar the same thing as white vinegar?
thanks
No; they are different. You really need just plain white vinegar
Thanks for sharing! I will definitely try… I have different recipe made with “zzenka” ( not sure if u familiar with this word)…
Not familiar :).
I had been craving these for ages, but couldn’t find them in the US! This recipe makes even better cookies than the ones I used to get in Petersburg)) Thanks so much for putting this up!
You’re so very welcome 🙂 I’m so glad you liked the recipe. It’s my mama’s and she is an amazing cook!
Thank You so much for this recipe. I made them twice already and the cookies turn out so good. I craved for these cookies, but every time i would go to the russian grocery store, their cookies would always be hard, and not fresh, now i can make them myself, its a great feeling. My kids enjoy eating these cookies too. THanks again.
You’re very welcome. Im so glad you and your family love the cookies; theres definitely nothing like a fresh batch!
Reminds me of when my friends grandma used to make 🙂 Me and Bogdan could just eat them all day!!
Ha! I eat way too many every time my mom makes them.
My mom (Vera..birds milk recipe contributor) makes these same exact cookies.. i will ask her if it’s the same recipe. 🙂 they are my favorite
Please thank her for me again. I love her recipe!!
Could you write it in russian please
No, sorry. That would probably take an extra hour at least per recipe. 🙁
Hi Natasha, I have a question for you. Did you or your mom ever try making these in chocolate flavor or like with some poppyseeds?? If yes, did you have to make any adjustments to the recipe? I’m just wondering if that’s a possability, to add a little variety.
Sounds like you are getting creative with your cooking! As long as I can remember, she’s always done it with mint, but please do let me know if you try another flavor 🙂 You can probably add different extract like hazelnut or vanilla in lieu of mint and not have to change the recipe, but I’m not sure how you would do chocolate?? Anyways, it does sound good 🙂
After u dip the pryaniki into glaze, where do u set them on a plate or wax paper because it has glaze top and bottom and needs 2 cool properly.
I made these cookies and they were awesome! Thank you so much for posting it. I was just wondering though, do you make the round dough balls teaspoon size or tablespoon size? I made mine teaspoon size and kept them in the oven for the time it says but they kind of burned on the bottom.
You may have made them too small. It’s a heaping teaspoon. So, when it’s formed into a ball, its about the size of a golf ball. Also, all ovens work a little differently. You are supposed to bake them until they are just beginning to golden. Dont’ wait until they are fully golden, I really do mean “beginning to golden” 🙂 Hope that helps.
Thanks for the tip! 🙂 i’ll be sure to watch them more carefully next time.
Girls re. the wax paper, it will start smoking if there is butter in the recipe, esp. lots of it.
Thanks for the recipe! I was browsing for something, something…….and I found it 🙂 By the way, just wanted to ask if you ever had your wax paper start smoking? I tried using it once, and since have only used parchment paper….
Katya – I’ve had the wax paper turn a golden brown on the edges, but never start smoking. I think it there is too much hanging off the side of the baking pan, it seems to brown faster. I like parchment paper more, but it’s a little pricey compared to wax paper, so I try to use the wax paper when I can. Your welcome 🙂 I’m glad you found what you were looking for 🙂
.,` that seems to be a great topic, i really love it ;”~
Yes! I have been thinking of this cookies for years! Now, I have finally found the recipe. Thanks
This looks wonderful! I have been looking for an authentic pryaniki recipe and i love the detailed instructions….can the dough be made properly without a stand mixer and dough hook? what technique would you recommend?
I double checked with my mom on this. You can do all of the steps without a stand mixer. Just use a big bowl and use a regular wisk until step 5, then wisk in the flour 1/2 cup at a time until it gets too thick, then mix in the rest of the flour with your hands until you have an even consistency and well blended dough.
Is the 2 cups of powdered sugar in the glaze a mistake or is that how you make them..cause i used 1 and added more lemon juice and they were still very sweet.
Its correct. We make it with 2 cups. The glaze is minty and sweet. If you use the full mint glaze recipe, the coating on the cookie should be pretty thin, so it ends up being the perfect amount of sweetness.
Well I don’t really like mint so I didn’t add it, but the coating was still pretty thin even though I had some glaze left over. I kind of coated them twice because I had a lot left over and some turned out to be a little bit sticky, do yours turn out the same or did I do something wrong? Maybe its because I coated them a second time because I had left over glaze.
Once the glaze sets, it is never sticky. Maybe its because you only used 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of 2. I only coat them once on each side. Hope that helps.
Ok thank you very much!
You are welcome. I’m always happy to have questions like yours. it lets me know someone is trying the recipes 🙂 Hope you liked the pryaniki!
These are my favs from my childhood–it’s been a long, long time since my mom made these but my grandma used to make them every time we came to visit her in Seattle cause she knew we loved them.
I’ve never seen a cookie recipe like this before! I’m very intrigued and will have to give them a whirl.
Wow, those look amazing!
I will definitely try to make them.