Albanian Sheqerpare

These melt in your mouth shortbread cookies soaked in syrup are called Sheqerpare in Albanian. They're a traditional dessert for Albanians around the world.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Albanian, Balkan, Mediterranean

Keyword Albanian Sheqerpare, Sheqerpare

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings servings

Calories 311kcal

Author Sonila

Ingredients

Sheqerpare Dough

4 eggs: 3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg
1 cup sugar
8 tbsps butter For US readers, this is equal to 1 stick of butter.
2.25 cups all purpose flour
0.25 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Sheqerpare Syrup

2 cups sugar
2.5 cups water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 slice lemon

Instructions

Making Sheqerpare Syrup

Add sugar and water in a small saucepan. Add vanilla extract. Once syrup boils, add lemon slice and lower heat to low. After 5 minutes, turn heat off and let the syrup cool.

Making Sheqerpare

Melt 8 tbsps of butter, don't burn the butter. Remove from heat when it has almost all melted, the residual heat will melt the rest. Set aside so it cools down.
Separate egg yolks for 3 eggs. Add 3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg in a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup sugar and start whisking.
Once eggs and sugar are creamy, then slowly add the butter as you still whisk with one hand. Incorporate the butter with butter and sugar.
Add vanilla extract and continue whisking.
Mix flour with baking soda. Add very little baking soda, otherwise the cookies will puff too much.
Spoon over flour mix over the mixing bowl where we have been mixing the eggs, sugar and butter. Whisk to incorporate slowly and keep adding few tbsps at a time. Once you can't whisk anymore because dough is thick, switch to a spatula. Depending on your level of skill you might be able to mix all the way with the spatula. But if you can't, just use your hands and create the dough that way.
If the mix feels too slippery (usually hot kitchen temperature), then it's ok to refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes or so. If you have a cool kitchen, you can start to shape the dough right away.
Separate the dough in 12 rolls. Make cookie shapes with your hand. Add each to a baking tray. Separate the cookies by about 1 inch so they don't run into each other while baking. Bake in 2 batches if you don't have a big enough tray.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake cookies for about 30 minutes. You want to check often starting at around 23 minutes as each oven is a bit different. You want the cookies to get that orange/reddish golden brown on top but not burn.
Add cool syrup over hot cookies or hot syrup on cool cookies. Let the cookies absorb the syrup, and cool down. They're best served the next day as all the flavors have mixed and settled:). Enjoy!!

Notes

This recipe makes 12 sheqerpare.
Bake in two batches if your baking tray is not too big, they can expand a little so will lose the shape if they touch while baking.
These cookies will always taste better the next day once they have absorbed the syrup better.
Butter - try to pick unsalted butter. It's ok to add a pinch of salt to dough but salted butter can change the whole flavor profile of the cookie.

Nutrition