Ladder cookies

Sunday, April 11, commemorating St. John of the Ladder, in Russia cookies are baked in the form of ladders.

According to folk beliefs, the "ladder" was supposed to facilitate movement upward to heaven, to paradise. In this regard, in some cases, the cookies had a memorial function, which was closely related to the notion of the soul leaving the earth for the other world at the end of a forty-day period after death. On the other hand, "ladders" often symbolized the spiritual ascent of the soul of a righteous person to heaven. Related to this same idea were the "staircases" that were baked on the day of John the Climber. His theological work described the "ladder" by which one was to ascend to moral perfection.

Here are some recipes:

RECIPE OF FAST STARCH COOKIES

3 cups flour, 1 cup starch, 0.5 cups vegetable oil, 0.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 cup sugar, vanillin (but you can also do without it), a little more than half a glass of mineral carbonated water ...

Mix flour, starch, baking powder, pour in oil. Separately dilute sugar, salt and vanillin in mineral water. Connect everything. The mass must be elastic, not solid.

Roll out the dough 0.5-1 cm thick, cut into strips and make shapes of ladders and crosses. Decorate with marmalade. Bake at 170 degrees for 20-25 minutes.


LONG COOKIES "MONASTERY",

Ingredients

0.5 tbsp sparkling mineral water

0.5 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp flour (300-320 g)

0.5 tbsp starch (80 g)

Preparation

knead the dough, roll a ball out of it and send it to the freezer for 20 minutes - rest, then it will be easier to roll it out and transfer it to a baking sheet (otherwise it is brittle). Divide the dough into pieces and make the ladders. Bake at 160 - 170 gr, 20-25 minutes.

Note: extraordinarily tender, melting in the mouth, crumbly biscuits.