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Authentic Şekerpare Recipe Turkiye, Asia
JUMP TO RECIPEWe strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though
Introduction & history
Şekerpare ("sugar bits") are one of Turkey's most beloved desserts. The dough is made with butter, flour, and eggs and then shaped into little balls roughly the size of a chestnut. When placed on the baking tray, they are flattened a bit and garnished with a whole almond or hazelnut. As soon as they are baked, they are soaked in lemon-flavored syrup. The semolina in the dough is what makes them light and crumbly, but it is only when they soak up the syrup that they become incredibly moist and tender.
Pair with
Cooking tips
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syrup
The first step when making şekerpare is to make the syrup, as it needs to have enough time to cool down. Once the cookies are straight out of the oven, you need to pour them over with the syrup, which they will then absorb as they cool. -
baking
When you place şekerpare on a baking tray, you must make sure you leave enough space between them, as they will expand during baking. -
ingredients
If you want to experiment with ingredients, try substituting almonds or hazelnuts with Maraschino cherries. -
storage
Keep your şekerpare cookies covered and in a container at room temperature for up to two to three days.
Recipe variations
Şekerpare
PREP 45min
COOK 20min
RESTING 2h
READY IN 3h 5min
This recipe shows how to prepare an incredibly light, less sweet-than-usual version of şekerpare cookies. You can make them with almonds or hazelnuts, depending on your preference.
Ingredients
300g (10.5 oz) flour, sifted
95g (3.5 oz) fine-grained semolina
125g (4.4 oz) unsalted butter
115g (4 oz) sugar
2 eggs
zest of 1 small lemon
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp light olive oil (and a little extra to grease the baking tray)
20 blanched almonds or hazelnuts
small bowl of cold water (to help shape the şekerpare cookies)
SYRUP
juice of 1 small lemon
345g (12 oz) sugar
480 ml (2 cups) water
Preparation
Step 1/11
Before you start, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Because it needs enough time to cool, you need to make the syrup first.
Step 2/11
In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Now, stir until the sugar has dissolved, then add the lemon juice. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes. When the syrup has thickened slightly, turn off the heat and let it cool.
Step 3/11
To make the dough, first, carefully melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Then, combine the sifted flour with semolina in a large bowl, make a well in the middle, and pour in the melted butter.
Step 4/11
Next, stir in two eggs, sugar, lemon zest, olive oil, and baking powder and knead for five minutes. You have to end up with a soft, moist dough.
Step 5/11
Cover the dough with a moist cloth and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Once the dough is rested, knead it again for five minutes.
Step 6/11
Prepare a small bowl of cold water to have nearby to help you shape the cookies. Then, dampen your hands, divide the dough, and shape it into twenty ping-pong-sized balls.
Step 7/11
Place the balls on a greased baking tray side by side. Make sure you leave some space between each of the balls so they have room to expand when baking.
Step 8/11
Press each of the dough balls gently to flatten them a bit. Then, push in an almond or a hazelnut in the center of each.
Step 9/11
Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or once they begin to turn light brown.
Step 10/11
Remove from the oven and pour the cold syrup over the still-hot şekerpare. Leave now to cool. After about 15 minutes, the şekerpare cookies would have absorbed the syrup and turned soft and moist.
Step 11/11
The cooled şekerpare cookies are best eaten with some tea or coffee.
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