This past April, I went to an exhibition at the UPenn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. I had actually gone there to look at their collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts, which is amazing because they excavated a large number of the artifacts themselves. They have one of the largest Ancient Egyptian collections in the area if you ever have the chance to go. Anyway, I stumbled upon an exhibition they were hosting called "Secrets of The Silk Road". The crossing of ancient cultures is a hot topic for art historians right now so it was not surprising that this was at the museum. I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more of this in the future! Sorry, I will keep the nerdy Art History talk to a minimum. Here is the blurb from the UPenn website about the exhibition, only because I couldn't have described it better myself.
"Secrets of the Silk Road explores the history of the Tarim Basin in western China. Extraordinarily well-preserved mummies and other materials found at the cross-roads of the legendary Silk Road suggest the area was active for thousands of years, with diverse languages, lifestyles, religions, and cultures present."
Very well said, and with that I will tell you how I came upon this cookie recipe. Along with a mummy and some other interesting artifacts were a few food items. There was a 1000 year old Wonton, yes I said Wonton!
Yum!
They were preserved because they were in the dry desert sand for 1000 years. Next to the 1000 year old Wonton were some 1000 year old cookies! And there I found the Ancient Cookie recipe.......
This is an actual picture of one of the ancient cookies that has been shaped like a chrysanthemum.
Unfortunately, our cookies will not be shaped like flowers.
Ancient Honey Sesame Cookies:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup sesame seeds
In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine butter, honey and eggs with an electric mixer until well combined. Slowly add flour into the mixture. Cover and chill the dough for one hour or until firm. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Form chilled dough into one inch balls and then press down with your fingers slightly. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops of cookies with melted butter when done and immediately roll in sesame seeds.
These cookies are delicious! Enjoy!
I would like to thank my neighbor Maureen for letting me borrow her mixer to make the cookies!! Thanks!
Wishing You Well Today And Always.
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