Sekerpare

Şekerpare are syrup-soaked Turkish Semolina Cookies made with butter, flour, and a little vanilla, each topped with a hazelnut.

One batch of this Sekerpare Recipe makes 24 pieces. They taste even better on the second or third day, so they're a perfect make-ahead dessert.

I bake this syrupy dessert every Şeker Bayramı, the holiday that closes Ramadan. They're much less work than Turkish Baklava, and everyone loves them just as much.

Jump to:

• What is Sekerpare?
• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients You'll Need
• How to Make Sekerpare?
• Recipe Tips From the Chef
• Variations
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage and Make Ahead Instructions
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Sekerpare - Turkish Semolina Cookies

You'll find şekerpare in Turkish bakery windows all year round though, not just at the holidays.

What is Sekerpare?

Şekerpare is a small, syrup-soaked cookie, and the texture is what separates it from a plain biscuit. It bakes short and crumbly, then softens all the way through as it draws in the syrup, so the middle ends up closer to cake than to cookie.

You will see the name written as sekerpare, şekerpare and seker pare. They are the same thing.

If you'd rather watch than read, the video below walks you through the whole process step by step.

Why This Recipe Works?

• The semolina granules swell as the cookies draw in the syrup, which keeps the middle soft without turning it gummy.
• One batch gives 24 pieces from one tray, so it feeds a crowd without doubling anything.
• Everything happens ahead. The dough can be made the day before, and the cookies want a night in the syrup anyway.
• Sekerpare freeze well for up to 3 months, so a second batch costs you nothing but oven space.
• The syrup is sugar, water and a few drops of lemon. Nothing in the recipe needs a special trip.

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

• Butter - Unsalted, and soft enough to take a fingerprint. Cold butter will not cream with the sugar, and melted butter makes the dough greasy.

• Plain white flour - Known as all-purpose flour in the US. Weigh it rather than scooping it, and sift it before it goes into the bowl.

• Icing Sugar - It gives a more crumbly cookie than granulated sugar does.

• Semolina - Fine semolina, not coarse. Coarse grains stay gritty and keep the dough from coming together.

• Eggs - Room temperature, or they split the creamed butter. Keep one yolk back for the egg wash, which is what gives the tops their shine.
• Baking powder - A teaspoon is all you need. Any more and they puff up and crack instead of staying flat and even.

• Lemon juice - A teaspoon keeps the syrup from crystallizing. Add more only if you want the syrup to taste of lemon.

• Hazelnuts - The most common nut for şekerpare. Pistachios or almonds work just as well. Push the nut in properly. The cookies rise as they bake, and a loose one pops straight off.

• Vanilla paste - Bean paste or extract, not artificial vanilla. There is little else in the dough to hide behind.

How to Make Sekerpare?

Prepare the Syrup

Place the water and sugar in a pan and put on medium heat. Stir it until the sugar dissolves, bring it to a boil, and let it gently boil for 15 minutes. 

Add a teaspoon of lemon juice, let it simmer for a few more minutes, and then remove the pan from heat.

Leave it to cool completely and get on with the cookies. The syrup has to be properly cold by the time it meets the cookies, so give it the full time it needs. 

Make the Cookies

Preheat your oven to 175° C - 350° F (fan oven) and start making the dough for the cookies.

Sift the flour in a large bowl and then add the egg, egg white, softened butter, icing sugar, semolina, vanilla paste, and baking powder. 

Mix with your hands just until the dough comes together. Any longer and it turns elastic, and the cookies come out hard instead of tender.

A short rest in the fridge makes the dough easier to shape and keeps the tops from cracking. Cover it and leave it for 15 to 30 minutes, or skip it if you're in a hurry.

Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and turn them into balls. Lightly flatten the dough balls and place them on a baking tray leaving enough space between each as they will rise when cooked.

Lightly press in the middle of the cookies with your fingertip and place a piece of hazelnut on each cookie. Eggwash the cookies with a pastry brush and place the baking tray in a preheated oven.

Bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are golden brown all over.

Don't leave them in the oven any longer, or they'll dry out and won't soak up the syrup.

Soak the Cookies

Wait 2 to 3 minutes, no more. The cookies need to be hot when the syrup goes on. Pour the cooled syrup over them a little at a time, not all at once. That way it spreads evenly instead of pooling at one end. Then cover the tray and leave them alone.

The cookies and the syrup should never be the same temperature. Pour cooled syrup over hot cookies, or warm syrup over cold cookies. If both are hot or both are cold, the syrup won't soak in, it just sits in the tray. If your timing goes wrong, lukewarm syrup on hot cookies still works.

Let them sit for 3 to 4 hours before serving, and overnight is even better. You can serve them after 2 hours if you have to, but the centers keep getting softer the longer they wait.

Recipe Tips From the Chef

• Take the butter out of the fridge a couple of hours ahead. It needs to be soft, not melted.
• Stop as soon as the dough comes together. Any longer and it turns elastic, and the cookies come out hard instead of tender.
• A short rest in the fridge makes the dough easier to shape and keeps the tops from cracking.
• Leave space between the cookies on the tray. They rise as they bake.
• Take them out as soon as they are golden all over. Overbaked cookies dry out and won't soak up the syrup.

• Every oven runs a little differently, so watch the cookies rather than the clock.

• Rest the baked cookies 2 to 3 minutes out of the oven, then pour the cooled syrup over them while they're still hot.
• Pour the syrup on gradually rather than in one go, so every cookie gets its share.
• Give them 3 to 4 hours in the syrup, ideally overnight. An hour firms the outside and leaves the middle dry.

Variations

All of these start from the same dough.

İrmiksiz şekerpare is the version without semolina. Swap it for the same amount of flour, so 2 extra tablespoons, and change nothing else. You lose the light grain and the crumbly bite. The cookies come out softer and smoother, closer to a soft shortbread soaked in syrup.

Pastane usulü şekerpare is the patisserie style, and it's more a finish than a different recipe. Roll the balls to the same size, flatten them evenly, and score the tops lightly with a fork. Some cooks mix a teaspoon of cocoa into the egg yolk before brushing to deepen the color, but that's a personal trick, not standard practice.

Kakaolu şekerpare is the chocolate version. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of cocoa to the dough and follow the method as written.

Limonlu şekerpare is the lemon version. Add 2 teaspoons each of grated lemon zest and lemon juice to the dough. For the syrup, add the zest and juice of half a lemon. The lemon cuts through a very sweet syrup. Don't add more than that, because too much lemon stops the syrup soaking in.

Serving Suggestions

Serve şekerpare at room temperature or slightly warm. Turkish Coffee is the usual partner, or a glass of Turkish Tea - Çay. In winter I like Salep - Turkish Hot Milk Drink (Sahlab) or Turkish Boza Drink next to them instead.

Scatter chopped pistachios or almonds over the top for a bit of crunch, since the cookies themselves are soft. A spoonful of Kaymak or a scoop of Maras Dondurma turns them into a proper dessert.

They're very sweet, like Homemade Elderflower Turkish Delight (Lokum), so one or two each is plenty.

Storage and Make Ahead Instructions

The dough keeps in the fridge for a day, wrapped. Make it the night before and bake in the morning if that works better for you.

Once the cookies have soaked up their syrup, keep them covered at room temperature. They hold for up to 5 days and keep softening the whole time, so it comes down to how soft you like them.

Don't store them in the fridge, because the cold can turn the syrup grainy. A cool, dry spot in the kitchen is all they need.

They freeze well for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Freeze them only after the syrup has gone in, not before, and thaw them at room temperature.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more delicious syrupy dessert recipes why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this scrumptious Turkish Sekerpare Dessert as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂