Two of the most important men in my life - husband and son - have May birthdays. They both love these cookies, so I made them as a birthday treat for our celebration last weekend.
They are called "mohn" (pronounced mun) cookies, which is the Yiddish word for poppyseeds, a key ingredient. For the longest time I called them moon cookies because they were round and no one told me otherwise. They come from an old recipe from my husband's family, handed down for at least three generations. The recipe I follow is scrawled in an old world pen by my husband's grandmother. It's part of a wonderful and literally crumbling recipe collection given to me by my mom-in-law.
Why these two men love these cookies confound most of the women in our family, including me. It's a hard, dry cookie with just a subtle flavor - a nice way of saying they're pretty tasteless. I've tried doctoring the recipe by adding flavors like lemon zest or cinnamon, but I get complaints every time.
So I followed the recipe, and the men I love were happy. It takes so little sometimes.
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