By: Danya Weiner

A few weeks ago we moved to a new apartment. From a seventy square meter apartment with a very small balcony, we moved to an apartment with a garden in a gated community in Yaffo, where we are lucky enough not even to hear the cars going by. During our first week there, it was so quite that I thought I had left Tel Aviv all together.

By far the best thing about the new place is afternoon with the kids. From feeling guilty that Yaffo is just not the place to raise kids, and not having enough energy for the 10 minute walk to the playground; now, some of us parents in the community have formed a playgroup. While the kids are out playing, we sit back, the mothers, and talk about mommy stuff. Several times I have brought the mothers some of the goods from our photo shoots for the blog. While the mothers give feedback and suggestions for improvements, the kids finish every last bite.

This is my friend Ayelet’s recipe. She told me, at one of our playgroups, that she makes the easiest-to-make cookies that get a disproportionate response (extremely positive) for the effort she puts into them. Those are my favorite type of recipes, so I invited her to come to the studio to make them and photograph them for the blog with us.

This is such an easy recipe that it is almost funny to write it as a formal recipe. But I promise that if you take these to the playground in the afternoon with your kids, you will come home with an empty container.

Rolled Cookies

Ingredients for 3 roulades (about 45 cookies):

For the dough:

2½ cups self-rising flour

1¾ sticks (7 oz./200gr.) butter, cold and cubed

1 cup sour cream

For the filling:

Any sort of sweet spread, such as Nutella, dolce de leche, halva, etc. Just make sure the spread is already sweetened, because there is no sugar in the dough.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180 C°). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dough ingredients until smooth dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Divide the dough evenly into 3 pieces and roll out each on a lightly floured surface to a 10 x 8-inch rectangle.

4. On each dough rectangle, brush out the spread in one layer and then roll lengthwise. Using a sharp knife, make slits every 1-inch, so that it will be easier to slice after baking.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden. Slice the cookies, and decorate with powdered sugar.