When I first started blogging last year, I came across a blog called IEatDC on Blogspot. The blog’s author, Andrea, writes about food—the restaurants she visits and the meals she cooks. Andrea and I began communicating via blog comments not long after I launched my website, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. Andrea’s background is Jewish, and she’s very familiar with traditional kosher cuisine, so we’ve had fun talking about the different ways that our families approach traditional dishes like challah and kugel. Now, over a year since we “met,” Andrea’s blog is still going strong. She renamed it Capitol to Capital – DC2ALB – after moving from Washington DC to upstate New York, and she continues to blog about one of her favorite subjects… food. 🙂
Andrea’s grandmother Renée was born to a Syrian Jewish father and a French Jewish mother. Renée’s mother was unable to care for her (the reason is unclear), and her father could not raise her alone. That is how Renée ended up in a Jewish orphanage connected to a Sephardic synagogue in London. She often told her family the memory she had of leaving for the orphanage—as she boarded the train, her father tied a string from her suitcase to her wrist so she wouldn’t lose it.
A picture of Renée
At the orphanage, Renée was raised with culturally Jewish values—she learned to keep kosher and Shabbat while living there. I researched the orphanage a bit, and found out that it was called the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Orphanage in Lauderdale Road, Maida Vale. Believe it or not, famed hair stylist Vidal Sassoon was living in the London orphanage at the same time as Renée!
Lauderdale Road Synagogue, site of the Spanish and Portuguese Orphanage at Maida Vale where Renee spent her childhood (photo: http://www.sandp.org/lauderdale.html).
Renée later came to the US as a war bride with Andrea’s grandfather. She was a talented knitter (like my grandma!); according to Andrea, Renée could make you a sweater if you pointed it out in a clothing catalogue. She was also a wonderful baker. A few weeks ago, Andrea shared with me her favorite recipe passed down from Renée —Sour Cream Twists.
“My grandmother’s sour cream twists were my favorite of her cookies,” Andrea wrote. “She also made a cake-like mandelbrot and delicious pies with lattice tops. I’m not sure of the origin of the cookies (I’m sure you’ll dig around), but I know that I was thrilled when I’d open a package at camp and see a tin of them.”
I did, in fact, do some “digging around” on these delicious cookies. While Renée was raised in a Sephardic Jewish orphanage, these twists are most likely Ashkenazi in origin. I found a couple of similar recipes that suggest a German connection. Sour cream was an important part of nineteenth-century Eastern European Jewish cuisine, and was particularly prevalent in German Jewish cooking and baking. It was used to enhance a generally bland diet heavy in starches, particularly potatoes. In Ashkenazi baking, sour cream was used to add moisture and richness to cake and pastry dough.
Here is Andrea’s family recipe, exactly as Renée wrote it down:
Sour Cream Twists
Oven 375 degrees
½ cup sour cream
3 ½ cups of flour
2 stks. margarine, cut in then add two beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup of warm water 1/2 tsp sugar
Add each ingredient then wait till yeast rises before being mixed into flour mixture.
Pack into large bowl greased with oil. Then turn dough over and cover with damp cloth. Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling in vanilla sugar.
Vanilla sugar mixture 1 ½ cups sugar with 2 tsp. of vanilla
After cutting process BAKE for 25 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately.
In her written recipe, Renée doesn’t explain about how to cut or twist the cookies, so I used Andrea’s method (which is explained below). The first time I tried these I found the dough a bit sticky and tough to roll out. Flouring the rolling surface made the dough too smooth, which meant the sugar didn’t stick to the cookie like it should. After researching the twists, I found out that they are traditionally rolled out on a surface that has been sprinkled with sugar, so I made them a second time that way and they turned out just dandy. Just be aware that sugaring the rolling surface and the rolling pin will be a bit of a sticky mess (butter + sugar = messy), so if you have a large silpat or some other easily cleanable rolling surface, it will make cleanup easier.
Best to use full-fat sour cream in these cookies. They’ll taste okay with lowfat sour cream, but they won’t be as rich, and the dough’s texture won’t be quite the same. Oh, also– I used real butter instead of margarine. I figured that since the cookies contain sour cream, it’s already a dairy recipe– so why not? 🙂
These cookies are delicious, with a very unique texture—tender on the inside, a tiny bit crisp on the outside, with a touch of crunch where the sugar caramelizes. They’re totally addicting. I had three last night, and had to stop myself from eating more. They’re perfect for dunking in tea or coffee, and would make a great addition to a dairy Shavuot or Hanukkah menu. Many thanks to Andrea and her grandma Renée for this unique and wonderful recipe!
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Renée's Sour Cream Twists
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 teaspoons vanilla, divided (use a liquid vanilla extract, not a thick syrup)
- 1 package yeast
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- Canola or nonstick spray oil to grease bowl
Instructions
- Pour flour into a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or two knives until the flour resembles coarse crumbs.
- Alternatively, you can pulse the flour and butter in a food processor until a crumbly texture forms. Do not over-process.
- Pour packet of yeast into a small bowl and cover with 1/2 cup lukewarm water (about 110 degrees). Stir in 1/2 tsp of sugar till yeast and sugar are dissolved. Set aside for 10 minutes to activate.
- While yeast is activating, stir vanilla into the 2 beaten eggs till combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream to the crumbly flour mixture.
- Right about now the yeast should be activated, meaning it will look expanded and foamy. If it doesn’t, your yeast may have expired—go buy some fresh yeast!
- Add the foamy yeast water to the mixing bowl.
- Stir all ingredients in the mixing bowl until just combined, switching to kneading when the mixture becomes to thick to stir. Do not overwork the dough; knead just a few times until a rough dough ball forms.
- Grease a larger mixing bowl with oil. Punch dough down into the greased bowl, then flip the dough so both sides are lightly oiled.
- Cover bowl with a damp cloth and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a wide, shallow bowl, mix 2 tsp of liquid vanilla extract with 1 1/2 cups of sugar till the sugar is evenly scented with vanilla.
- Dust your rolling surface with 1/2 cup of the vanilla sugar. Take dough out of the refrigerator and place it on the sugared rolling surface.
- Roll out the dough into a rough 12x16 inch rectangle. If the dough sticks to your rolling pin, rub the pin with sugar periodically.
- Cut the rectangle lengthwise so there are 3 long, thin rectangles of dough. Cut each rectangle of dough into strips about 1 inch thick (each strip will be about 4 inches long).
- Dip each strip into the vanilla sugar so that both sides of the strips are evenly coated in sugar.
- Twist the sugar-coated strips two or three times each and pinch at the ends to taper. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Turn the tray halfway through baking to ensure even browning. The darker you let them brown, the crisper the cookies will be.
- Remove cookies from baking sheet immediately, otherwise the cookies will stick to the sheet. Place on a wire rack or plate to cool.
- These Sour Cream Twists go great with tea, coffee, or a glass of ice cold milk. Store in a sealed tin or Tupperware.
Nutrition
Would adding juice from one lemon and grated lemon rind to dough work? Would this change other measurement of ingredients?
Thank you.
My local greengrocer sells biscuits like these and they are made and inported from Italy (I live in Sydney). I have been looking for a recipe for them and these look exactly the same. Can’t wait to try them ?
This is very interesting to finally know the origins of this recipe I’ve been making for over 30 years. As a 19 year old baking enthusiast, I learned this recipe from my boyfriend’s mother and sister. They remarked it was a 1950’s Pillsbury bake-off winner but I never saw any evidence of this. We made them together and they became a staple of my Christmas ever since. Everyone loves them the best of any cookie. Over the years, I’ve taught a few ladies to make them (as they do need some instruction). But they are quite involved and messy to make. I’m glad to know that this recipe is out there. I have never come across them in any social gathering in the 30 years. So if you want to make something truly special, this is it. Note, my recipe does have 1 stick of butter and 1/2 c of crisco. They come out divine. Happy baking! Jan
Tori… quick question. Do you think I could leave the dough in the fridge for longer than 2 hours? Like overnight? If we make these in my special needs classroom tomorrow, put the dough in the fridge and then on Wednesday, roll them out to bake? Would that be okay or would it ruin the whole thing:? Thanks. By the way, I’ve made these with vanilla sugar, almond sugar (almond extract) and plan to try it with citrus zest mixed in the sugar). I recently bought chocolate and coffee extracts so I will try those too! =)
Thanks. Can’t wait to hear from you. Chag Sameach!
I really enjoyed the history of your recipe. My parents lived in Germany in the early 50’s and this was a cookie she made every year at Christmas. I had lost the recipe and was very happy to find it.
I have left the dough overnight with a moist cloth over it and still worked out. Delicious but a lot of work.
Tori,
I was in need of a recipe that was “Jewish” for my school’s Cultural Sweets Day (part of our Black History Month in East Los Angeles! LOL!) and I knew I wouldn’t have time to make rugalah or hamantaschen so I saw this and figured it would be easy enough to do. I had all the ingredients already at home (I used Light sour cream, though) and so as soon as I walked in the door, I started making the dough. I made two batches and used Rapid Rise yeast, but still stuck it all in the refrigerator for 2 hours. I then started cutting and twisting. I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets and they came off like a dream and were still crispy on the bottom. I used a silicone rolling pin on my silicone pastry mat and they both worked perfectly with little mess! These cookies are to die for! I can’t wait to share them tomorrow! I will have to pull out my grandmothers’ recipes for some of the dishes they made and pass them on to you. My nana used to make meat blintzes! Oh yum. Thanks again for sharing Renee’s recipe with us.
Very happy to hear this Laurie! 🙂
Hi Tori
I was searching the net for ages for a recipe for the sugar cookies that my grandmother used to have always in her pantry. I ended up using your recipe ( I had no idea how she made them 🙂 They have been fantastic. I have made 2- 3 batches and love them. All my aunts and uncles have said they are just like her biscuits .
Thanks so much – the dough is so easy to handle .
Julia
That’s wonderful Julia! So happy to help recapture that memory for you.
I have been doing these cookies for years, and always do the roll and sugar, then fold and roll and sugar and fold method. Another great flavor for the sugar is almond extract. I usually do two batches, one of vanilla sugar and one of almond sugar. You can use a bit of colored sugar like red and green to differentiate for those who prefer one taste to the other.
Also, it is important to remove the cookies from the sheet trays quickly after removing them from the oven or the crystallized sugar cools and hardens…sealing the cookies onto the sheet tray!
My dad always talks about how his grandmother use to make these, but I could never find a recipe! His mother eventually made them with leftover pie crust, but they aren’t the same. Thanks for the recipe!
Hope they’re just like he remembers Emma! 🙂
hi what kind of yeast did you use? i used active dry yeast:)
i love them so much YUM lol
we are making them today but have to go and get some sour cream my nine year old has had this on her brain for a whole year and a half……..they sound so good MMMMMMMM….
could you share some of mother sultans recipes if wiling thanks
Thanks for the visual demo of how to prepare these.I’m not sure I’d attempt it without this step-by-step process. MUCH appreciation.
I happened upon this recipe and it brought back wonderful memories. My grandmother used to make these often. To this day we call them Bubie cookies. Everyone in the family knows exactly which cookies we mean. My sister and her daughter have made them several times from her recipe, but they are never as good as hers. We can’t duplicate her perfect twist. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for all the delicious recipes.The yeast one packet would be about how many teaspoons? Thanx again
WOW>..these remind me about my great-grandmothers, and yes, their to die for…I loved them as a child and love them even more now, since the recipe was shared…Thank you so much
I am intrigued by this recipe and want to try it. So, just a question: What kind of sugar did you use? It looks coarser than sugar normally sold in supermarkets. Light brown sugar? Or maybe turbinado sugar?
Thanks, from a loyal fan of your recipes. Everything I’ve tried so far has come out great!
Hi Muriel, thanks! It’s actually just plain granulated sugar– when mixed with the vanilla it takes on a grainier appearance. Enjoy! It’s a sticky process, but so worth it.
These make a rather large batch for a single person. Can you freeze these prior to cooking?
I made these, yum! so good … for the soul, not for the diet – we finished half in one sitting 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I’m another Catholic girl with some German and Polish family food tendancies that verge into the Jewish territory often. My mother’s version of schnitzels which were adapted from the old German pork recipe and made with Chicken were always affectionately known as Rabbi teasers due to their origins. I’m so happy to have found your wonderful blog. Your family food memories are beautiful, as is your writing — it’s lovely to come across someone who has found their calling (or one of them). Thanks for sharing!