Easy rustic Bulgarian cookies, called Soldiers Cookies (”Kurabii” in Bulgarian or kurabiye in Turkish cuisine). Durable, sweet cookies from ancient times, where the dough is prepared with plain yogurt, flour, egg, sugar and walnuts. Enhanced with spices, these simple yogurt dough cookies are a dream. Vegetarian.
Soldiers’ Cookies are traditional Bulgarian treats with roots dating back to ancient times. They can be made in a variety of ways, but all recipes share a common trait-they use simple pantry staples that most Bulgarians have on hand – plain yogurt, eggs, flour and sugar.
Also try these Bulgarian ‘Little Rock” no bake cookies – they are super simple to make and extra, extra delicious.
FUN FACTS: Legend has it, these cookies were given by mothers to their son soldiers during (in the past) mandatory army service. Because they are incredibly durable, soldiers didn’t have to worry about them spoiling. Some even claim these cookies could last for months in a soldier’s backpack during the winter. Personally, I’ve never tested that theory-they disappear far too quickly in my household.
In Bulgaria, these cookies are often called “Kurabii”, closely related to the Turkish “kurabiye.” Some believe they date back to the Ottoman Empire when Bulgaria was under its rule. What I love about Soldiers’ Cookies is how easy and versatile they are. I often mix in nuts, orange peel, cocoa, or whatever I’m in the mood for-and they always turn out delicious!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Egg -binds all together
- Flour – I bleached all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
- Sugar for cookie dough and coating
- Vegetable oil – like olive oil or most use sunflower oil. Orange juice can be used too
- Greek yogurt – plain
- Baking powder or some use baking soda instead
- Optional: chopped nuts (like walnuts), vanilla, cinnamon, orange or lemon peel (best if fresh), chocolate chips, etc.
How to cook Soldiers Cookies?
1st: Combine all ingredients and knead a soft dough.
2nd: Shape and roll into sugar, then bake and enjoy when cooled down.
TIP: Add different aromas and species to enhance the flavor – like cinnamon, orange or lemon peel, vanilla extract, or vanilla sugar. I use brown or white sugar depending what I have on hand – both work perfectly.
Soldiers Cookies (Kurabiye)
Equipment
- 1 baking tray
Ingredients
- 250 g flour, all purpose
- 5 g baking powder, (or 1 tbsp. – leveled )
- 1 egg, medium size
- 60 g sugar, brown
- 50 ml olive oil
- 50 g plain Greek Yogurt
- 6 tbsp. walnuts, finely chopped
- 2 drops vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp. lemon peel, optional
- 1-2 drops lemon oil, optional
- brown sugar for rolling cookies in
Instructions
- First, in a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Knead a soft, non-stick dough by hand (or with kitchen robot/bread machine).
- Then, with slightly wet/oily hands divide the dough into small pieces. Shape into small balls. Roll into sugar on all sides.
- Next, place onto baking paper with space in between cookies.
- Bake on 360F/180C for about 10-15 minutes until cookies start to change color. Watch closely as they burn quickly.
Notes
Nutrition
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2 tablespoons of Baking Powder – WAY too much. Cookies were bitter and inedible.
If this were corrected I am sure they would be delicious.
Hello Cynthia, thank you for spotting the typo in the recipe card. Indeed 2 tbsp. is way too much. Recipe corrected. Sincere apologies, I hope you give the cookies a second chance 🙂
Dear Ana, I made these cookies last night for someone from Bulgaria, i really hope he will recognize this classic… the recipe seems a bit unusual to me (Dutch person), i had never put a combination of yogurt, olive oil, lemon peel and walnut in a cookie!! What is the texture of the cookies supposed to be like? Mine are crunchy on the outside (thanks to the sugar) and softer inside, almost between cookie and cake.
Your recipe was the only one i could find on the entire internet in english (rather than Bulgarian) and with measurements in grams rather than cups :). I hope you share more old fashioned authentic Bulgarian home cooking recipes !!
Cheers, Elizabeth
Dear Elizabeth, the texture should be exactly as you describe it. It’s very common for old Bulgarian recipes to have yogurt (in most cakes BG yogurt), oil and some sort of a nut (usually walnuts) in them. The lemon peel is a more modern thing, cinnamon as well. The olive oil can be replaced with sunflower oil – the mainstream cheaper version of olive oil in BG. Cheers, Ana