Almond-topped butter cookies soaked in lemon syrup
Sheqerpare are Albanian syrup-soaked butter cookies. This version uses wheat flour, egg yolks and an almond on each cookie, with no semolina. The syrup softens the baked crumb; the serving photograph shows an almond-topped variation.
- Prep
- 20 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins
- Rest
- 1 hour
- Chill
- 1 hour
- Total
- 2 hours 50 mins
- Serves
- 12 cookies; 12
The recipe
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links marked “paid link” may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Before you start
Heat a conventional oven to 180°C. Use a deep metal baking dish about 35 × 25 cm, suitable for holding both cookies and syrup. The syrup is prepared while the oven heats and cools before it meets the hot cookies.
Ingredients
Quantities change with servings; cooking times stay the same.
Equipment
- Deep metal baking dish, 35 × 25 cm paid link
- small saucepan paid link
- mixing bowl paid link
- whisk paid link
- spatula paid link
- kitchen scale accurate to 1 g paid link
Method
Dissolve the syrup sugar in water, bring to a boil, add lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Melt the butter and cool until lukewarm. Whisk egg, yolks and dough sugar, then whisk in butter and vanilla. Fold in flour mixed with bicarbonate.
Divide into twelve rounds, flatten slightly and press an almond into each. Place apart in the baking dish.
Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden and set. Pour the cooled syrup gradually over the hot cookies in the metal dish.
Allow to cool and absorb syrup for 1 hour, then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Chef’s notes
Use a metal dish for the temperature change when syrup meets hot cookies. Weigh the small bicarbonate quantity accurately. The cookies need space to spread without merging.
Tips and variations
This is a sweet syrup dessert; reducing sugar substantially changes both the dough and the soaking liquid and needs a separate trial. If the dough is too soft to shape, chill it for 20 minutes and add that time to the total.
Serve with
Lift each cookie out with a flat serving spoon. Serve one per person with coffee; avoid flooding the plate with all the remaining syrup.
Storage
Refrigerate after the initial 1-hour cooling and soaking period. Keep covered and eat within 48 hours. Use a clean utensil to lift cookies from the syrup.
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
Nutrition has not been calculated. Portion size and the brands used will affect the final values.
Allergens
Contains wheat/gluten, milk, egg and almonds. Removing the almond after baking does not make a cookie safe for someone with an almond allergy.
Made it?
Rate this recipe. Your rating helps other cooks.
No ratings yet. Be the first.
Questions
Should the syrup and cookies both be hot? This method uses cooled syrup with hot cookies.
Does this version contain semolina? No; the listed flour is plain wheat flour.
Why is syrup left in the dish? Absorption varies with cookie size and baking. Serve with a little syrup rather than forcing all of it onto each plate.
