Mrs. Cohen’s Kosher for Passover Cookies

Mrs. Cohen’s Kosher for Passover Cookies

A Recipe from the Koppelman Family archives

About the Recipe

This recipe comes from Mrs. Cohen – not my mother (though she makes them every year), my Aunt Harriet’s mother. See, my mother was a Koppelman who married a Cohen, and Aunt Harriet was a Cohen who married a Koppelman. Every year we would gather at Mr. and Mrs. Cohen’s house (AH’s mom and dad) and sit around a huge table for our Passover Seder. As we cousins grew up, the Cohens were less and less an extended arm of the family, and more another set of grandparents.

Every year, Mrs. Cohen made these cookies.

There’s not a ton to really love about kosher for Passover baking in general, but wow are these cookies delish. They’re kind of like a snickerdoodle crossed with an oatmeal raisin cookie, but with matzah instead of flour and oats. The recipe has been passed from Mrs. Cohen to Mrs. Cohen to Mrs. Rabiner-Cohen (me!) and I can’t wait to pass it down to my son one day.

A few quick notes on changes and adaptations – you can use the dried fruit of your choice in this. I used the Trader Joe’s Berry Blend this time around, and the variety of flavor seems promising. My mom swore by golden raisins. Mrs. Cohen’s original was regular raisins. Any nut is fine in this as well. I prefer walnuts, my mom is more of an almond gal.

Quick tip: Use a metal tablespoon or scoop to shape the cookies. They’re very, very sticky and just get worse and worse if you try to do it with your hands. Chag Sameach!

For more of my family recipes, click here!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups matzah meal
2 cups matzah farfel
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup white raisins
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
5 eggs
2 tsp. orange juice

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients. Beat in eggs, oil, and orange juice. Drop by the teaspoon or tablespoon, or roll in hands. Place on very greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350*F for 15-20 min.

Grandma’s Apple Pie

Grandma’s Apple Pie

A Recipe from Grandma Jones’ recipe box & my Bridal Shower Cookbook

About the Recipe

My grandma was the wife of a doctor. As such, she knew how to host! When we went to holidays at her house growing up, there were a few things that you could depend on – a fantastic table setting, my Zaydee (grandpa) taking photos every 5 minutes, my father and his sister fighting over the best parts of the turkey, and grandma’s apple pie.

I truly believe that my love of baking came from years and years of getting to her house, putting on an apron, and getting floury in the kitchen with this pie and this pie crust. Making it each Thanksgiving for my family and friends has become a ritual that I hope to pass on some day as well.

I’ve made some small filling adjustments over the years. I soak raisins in whiskey or bourbon and pour them and the soaking liquor into the filling. I’ve added ground clove and other spices here and there. But the core of the pie – apples, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg – is classic and delicious.

For more of my family recipes, click here!

About the Cookbook

This book is not old in and of itself, but it is filled with old family and friend recipes. For my bridal shower, my cousin Becky (yes, the same Becky from A Weekend at Becky’s) compiled this book full of them. There are recipes from folks no longer with us, and recipes that traveled halfway across the world. I will always treasure this very special book. But, sadly, there’s only one.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

Pie crust:
2 sticks of butter
2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup, or a little more *ice* water

Filling:
6-8 apples, peeled & cut up
cinnamon
sugar
raisins (if you want)
dash of nutmeg

Directions:

Add butter to flour, break up into small pieces. Add water to form a ball. Refrigerate for 1 hour+.

Remove to flour surface, divide in 2, and roll out! Line pie tin with bottom crust.

Peel and cut the apples. Add cinnamon, a little sugar. You can add raisins if you want. A dash of nutmeg.

Add to bottom crust. Top with other half of crust rolled out. Poke holes in the top & bake at 400* for about an hour.

Peach Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Peach Sour Cream Coffee Cake

A Recipe from Grandma Jones’ recipe box

About the Recipe

I visited my grandma recently, along with my husband and my dad. She let me go through her recipe box, and when she pulled this recipe out she said, “This one is very old… and very good.” So good in fact, that she had it written down on 3 different scraps of paper stuffed in the box!

I had no choice but to make it for dessert that night. As I banged around my grandma’s kitchen, I could see her struggling with letting me do it alone. Eventually she just sat and watched, but every now and again a little tip or trick would pop out of her mouth.

When my dad saw it coming out of the oven, he said – “OH! Is that the peach cake? It’s very old, and very good.” And so it is.

For more of my family recipes, click here!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup cinnamon & sugar
1 large can of peaches, drained

Directions:

Mix the sour cream and the baking soda. Set aside and let bubble.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add 2 eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.

Sift together flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture & sour cream mixture alternatively.

Butter square cake pan (9×9). Put half of batter in pan, sprinkle 2/3 cinnamon mixture on top, then add rest of batter, peaches on top of that and rest of cinnamon & sugar. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350*