Spice cookies from Jerusalem (page 278) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • annmcd on May 03, 2026

    Did not like the combined flavours or texture. Won’t cook again.

  • Livia on June 24, 2018

    Complete disaster. Didn't taste right and overly sweet and sadly had to throw the batch away :(

  • tmitra on August 13, 2017

    I like the texture of these, but as you can guess from the recipe, they are hardly spice cookies. For me, chocolate and lemon are the dominant flavors. I prefer true spice cookies, so I would not repeat these, as they are time-consuming (especially grating the chocolate, as TrishaCP anticipated below).

  • FJT on February 25, 2017

    Great recipe! I did make some substitutions just because of what I had in the pantry, but nothing too major: marsala for brandy, raisins for currants and extra lemon zest for orange zest. I also mixed these by hand as I don't have a stand mixer; it looked like an impossible job at one point, but it did all come together in the end. I have to admit that when I tasted these fairly soon after they came out of the oven I didn't really like them and had a hard time finishing just one cookie ... but they've mellowed overnight and now I'm a fan.

  • laurenlangston on December 18, 2016

    These taste gorgeous. These notes are after following a double batch of the recipe to the letter, by weight instead of volume when the option was given (with exception, noted below). The dough is so stiff that it scared my KitchenAid a little when I made the double batch. I used nocino instead of brandy to soak the currants since that's what I had on hand and it was delicious; I might even use 25% more booze next time to reach more of the currants and to add just a little more moisture to the dough. I did hit some problems at the end: 1 tablespoon glaze per cookie won't stretch to the whole batch; 2 teaspoons will do it. He says to make glaze while cookies are "still warm" but if you pour it while the cookies are too warm it'll thin out from the heat of the cookie and won't look a thing like the photo.

  • raybun on October 07, 2016

    Absolutely delicious! The house smelt of Christmas while they were baking. I used raisins instead of currants and a mix of chocolate chips and cocoa nibs as I didn't have any cooking chocolate left. I used a small egg instead of 1/2 a medium egg and they were perfect. I expected them to flatten a little in the oven but they kept their round shape. Disappeared very quickly...

  • Melanie on February 15, 2015

    Delicious! Made a double batch for Christmas. Will definitely make again, fantastic mix of flavours.

  • DeborahBluhm on December 25, 2014

    So good! And totally worth the extra effort. I used big juicy dried sour cherries that I bought online from his webstore instead of sultanas, and soaked them overnight in kirsch. They were absolutely delicious!

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    I made these as part of my Christmas cookie assortment, and they are so delicious. A bit more involved than most cookies, and definitely read the recipe ahead because you need to rest the batter, soak currants in brandy, etc. A good quality not too sweet chocolate is a must (I used a 62% Spanish chocolate)- and I just did a fine chop rather than grating (which sounded too time consuming and messy to me). I don't like huge Christmas cookies, so I made these a smaller size than called for- my cookie balls were about a tablespoon in size and I baked them for the shortest time in the suggested range- I think 11 minutes. That was fine with the glaze and chocolate adding moistness. One quibble with the recipe-it called for half an egg. Maybe that was the result of converting between British and American versions of the book (I have the US version), but I hate that type of waste.

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