Directions:

In a bowl mix the butter and sugar with a mixer until you get a smooth texture. Next add the egg and mix until fully blended. Add the sour cream and vanilla until those ingredients are fully blended with the rest.

 

Sift flour and baking powder and add a little oil to the mixture. Knead into a soft dough, which should not be sticky. The dough is kneaded until all the ingredients are mixed well and become uniform. Shape into a ball and wrapped in plastic wrap. Cool in refrigerator for 1 hour.

 

Preheated the oven to 180 ° C and set up a tray covered with baking paper.

 

On a lightly floured countertop the chilled dough is rolled out to a thickness of about 4-5 mm. The cookies are cut into egg shapes or a shape of your preference such as a bunny, flowers or butterflies and then cut another shape out of them to use like a window (you can leave some without the smaller cutouts to decorate a little differently). Keep the cookies spaced out enough to prevent them from cooking together. To get more cookies out of each sheet just collect the clipped dough, roll into a ball and roll out another sheet to cut out from.

 

Bake the cookies (without “windows”) for 12 minutes if they’re large shapes or 10 minutes if you cut out small ones. They should remain a light color when they’re finished. Let them sit for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and decorate as desired.

 

For the cookies that have “windows” take candy with a color you like and crush the candy to very small pieces. On a baking sheet place the cookies with cut out “windows” and fill the empty space (window) with the crushed candy. Bake like you did the regular cookies. Once baked leave them on the baking sheet until cool and the “window” is solid. Store the cookies in a dry place away from any heat to prevent the windows from melting.

 

Joanna Hard is a chef from Bulgaria that loves to make dishes and desserts from all over the Balkans including Greece and other parts of Europe.