Teiglach

G'mar tov!

I hope you all had a sweet Rosh Hashanah.  Ours was filled with family, friends, and food.  Lots and lots of food.  Especially being eaten by my one year old.  This kid packs it away and I have no idea where he puts it all since he's so small!  But now we know he likes matzah balls, gefilte fish and kasha.  He hasn't voiced his opinion on my gefilte fish vs my grandmother's, though.  He seems to enjoy them both equally.

As I was preparing for the holiday I knew I wanted to bring something to my grandparents'.  I have brought honey cake in the past but wanted to do something a little different this year.  So I turned to my trusty Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking for ideas.  Everything in their Rosh Hashanah section looked better then the last but the one that jumped out at me was teiglach.  I'd heard of teiglach before but had never had it.  It is basically hard dough balls covered in a honey mixture.  What's not to like about that?!  And this recipe calls for ground ginger which adds a nice kick.

The end result tasted great and was a hit with my family.  In the future I may try to make the dough balls a little bigger but I like that it's a bite size dessert that easy to share.  I didn't get fancy with my plating this time since I had to be able to transport it.  Next time I would try to put the balls in more of a shaped tower.

I wish all a happy new year and may you have an easy fast.

Teiglach (from A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking)

Ingredients
Dough:
3 eggs
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour + more for dusting

Honey Syrup:
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly smear with vegetable oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar and salt.
- Blend in the flour to make a very soft dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, adding just enough flour, if necessary, to make it easy to roll.
- With your hands, roll the dough into long ropes, about 1/2 inch wide.
- Pinch or cut off 1/2 inch pieces (I used my pizza cutter for quick and easy cutting).  Place all the little pieces on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake, shaking the sheet occasionally, until the dough pieces puff and are golden brown (15-20 min).

- Once the dough is baked, make the syrup: In a saucepan, heat the honey and sugar together and boil very gently for 3-5 min until just amber colored.
- Lower the heat, then stir in the ginger, walnuts, and the baked puffs, tossing to coat them.
- Spread the mixture out onto a lightly greased baking sheet (using wet hands or a spatula) or arrange the teiglach in a tower formation.
- Sprinkle with coconut.
- Allow it to cool and harden (leave out or you could put it in the freezer for 30 min).
- This is a sticky dessert, so either pull off pieces to eat or you can use 2 spoons to take a section.