Armenian Gata: Classic Holiday Cookies

Original, very tasty, made from ordinary products, for a holiday. Armenian gata is a classic cookie that is prepared in different regions of the Caucasus. It is crumbly on the outside, soft on the inside, with a sweet filling of sugar mixed with flour and butter. I cook it with matsoni, but you can also use kefir or fermented baked milk.
cook time: 2h
Owen Truitt
Armenian Gata: Classic Holiday Cookies

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

381
Calories
19g
Fat
43g
Carbs
6g
Protein

Ingredients (20 portions)

Dough:

Salt 0.5 tsp
Wheat flour 480 g
Butter 200 g
Eggs 2 pc
Soda 1 tsp
Vanilla sugar 10 g
Matsoni 250 ml

Filling:

Sugar 250 g
Wheat flour 160 g
Butter 150 g

Recipe instructions

Step 1

Step 1
How to make Armenian gata? Prepare your food. Start by preparing the filling. To do this, sift the wheat flour into a bowl and make a well in it. Melt the butter and cool it to room temperature. Pour the butter into the well in the flour.

Step 2

Step 2
Grind the butter and flour until they form wet crumbs, add sugar into a bowl.

Step 3

Step 3
Stir the resulting mass. At this step, you can add a couple of tablespoons of honey and 100 grams of walnuts, ground in a blender, to the filling. In the original recipe, honey and nuts are not added to the filling, but I added it, in my opinion, it tastes better.

Step 4

Step 4
Start preparing the dough. Cool the butter by cutting it into pieces. Sift 2/3 of the flour into a large bowl (this will enrich it with oxygen, and the baked goods will turn out fluffier). Make a depression in the flour, place pieces of cold butter in it, chop the butter with a knife, thereby mixing the butter and flour. You can do this on a cutting board or table. I find it easier to do this in a large bowl.

Step 5

Step 5
You should get flour grains the size of buckwheat. If you processed the dough on the counter, pour it into a bowl at this point. Separate one white from the yolk. Leave the yolk for greasing the cookies.

Step 6

Step 6
Collect the dough grains into a mound. Make a hole in it, break one whole egg and one egg white into it.

Step 7

Step 7
Mix the eggs carefully with a fork and add matsoni to them.

Step 8

Step 8
Dissolve soda in the matsoni, stir, foam will appear, then add salt and vanilla sugar to the matsoni. I do this directly in the bowl of dough.

Step 9

Step 9
Carefully grabbing the butter-flour mixture from the edges, knead into a soft dough.

Step 10

Step 10
Add the remaining flour as needed, knead the dough and gather it into a ball. You may need more or less flour than I did, so be guided by the consistency of the dough. The dough, like the filling, can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator, covered with cling film, for several days.

Step 11

Step 11
Divide the dough into two parts, roll each into rectangles 2-3 mm thick.

Step 12

Step 12
Place the filling on top of the rolled out dough, leaving one centimeter from the edges.

Step 13

Step 13
Roll the dough with the filling into a tight roll.

Step 14

Step 14
Brush the roll with yolk and prick with a fork in several places.

Step 15

Step 15
Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into pieces 2-2.5 centimeters thick. I sprinkled the rest of the filling on top, but you donʼt have to do that. Using a spatula or wide knife, carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 2-3 centimeters apart. Bake in an oven preheated to 200C for about 20 minutes. It may take a little more or less time, depending on your oven. Bake until browned.

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