Marokánky (Czech Christmas Cookies)
I stumbled across these at a small bakery in Prague on a recent trip. They’re Marokánky, a traditional Czech Christmas cookie, and the bakery’s were big, warm, and loaded with dates, exactly what I wanted wandering the city on a crisp early-winter day. I liked them enough to ask the owners what went into them and how they made them.
This recipe is part what they told me and part a written recipe I worked from, plus a good amount of my own tweaking. Their big tip was to caramelize the base much more than you’d think, which gives a firmer cookie with a stronger flavor. I fold in chopped dates like they did, swap the shortening for ghee, and finish each one with dark chocolate across the bottom. The result is a thin, lacy, nearly flourless cookie packed with almonds, walnuts, dates, and cranberries.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Volume | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| Confectioners' sugar | 2/3 cup | 75g |
| All-purpose flour | 2 tbsp | 15g |
| Heavy whipping cream | 1/2 cup | 114g |
| Sliced almonds | 1/2 cup | 43g |
| Walnuts, crushed | 1/4 cup | 28g |
| Dates, chopped | 1/4 cup | 37g |
| Dried cranberries, chopped | 1/4 cup | 30g |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | - |
| Bittersweet chocolate, chopped | 3 oz | 85g |
| Ghee | 1 tsp | - |
Instructions
Make the caramel base
- In a large saucepan, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and flour, then whisk in the cream until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until it's thickened and bubbly.
- Reduce the heat to low and keep cooking and stirring, well past the couple of minutes the original recipe calls for. You're taking it almost to a caramel: it darkens a little, gets thick enough that it starts to feel challenging to move, and pulls away from the sides of the pan when you tilt it. That pull-away is the cue I trust most.
Fold in the nuts and fruit
- Take the pan off the heat. Add the sliced almonds, crushed walnuts, chopped dates, cranberries, and vanilla, then fold it together with a spatula instead of stirring. Keep scraping up from the bottom so everything gets evenly coated in the caramel.
- Let the mixture cool completely. It firms up as it cools, which makes it much easier to portion.
Shape and bake
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Drop the mixture by tablespoonfuls onto the sheet, then flatten each one to about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. That gives you a flat surface for the chocolate while keeping some heft to the cookie.
- Bake until the edges begin to brown. For me that's around 15 minutes, but ovens vary, so start checking at 10 minutes and then every 2 minutes after that.
- Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate the bottoms
- Melt the bittersweet chocolate and ghee together in the microwave, stirring until smooth.
- Flip each cookie upside down and brush the bottom with chocolate using a spatula. Brushing the flat bottoms instead of dipping keeps your fingers out of the hot chocolate, and you can leave the cookies flipped while the chocolate dries so they don't stick to anything.
- Let the chocolate set, the fridge speeds it up. Store the cookies between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in an airtight container.
Tips
Buy sliced almonds. No need to slice your own, pre-sliced is perfect here.
Crush the walnuts for texture, toast them for flavor. I crush them instead of chopping for a rougher, more rustic texture. If you want a deeper, nuttier flavor, the real move is to toast the walnuts (and the almonds) first, which does far more than how you cut them.
Watch the bake closely. There’s a lot of sugar in these and it goes from done to burnt fast. Check at 10 minutes, then every 2.
FAQ
What are Marokánky?
Marokánky are a traditional Czech Christmas cookie. The batter is a caramel of sugar, flour, and cream cooked on the stovetop, then loaded with nuts and dried fruit, dropped onto a sheet, baked, and finished with a layer of chocolate on the bottom. They come out crunchy at the edges and chewy in the middle.
Can I swap the dates and cranberries for other dried fruit?
Yes. The original recipe calls for candied orange zest but notes that any dried fruit works. I use chopped dates and dried cranberries, but raisins, dried cherries, or chopped apricots would all be great. Use about half a cup of dried fruit total.
Why ghee instead of shortening?
Flavor. The original thins the chocolate with a teaspoon of shortening so it coats smoothly. Ghee does the same job but adds a nutty, buttery richness that plain shortening doesn't. It's a small swap that makes the chocolate taste better.
How do I know when the caramel base is reduced enough?
Cook it well past the two minutes the original calls for. You want it to darken slightly and thicken until it feels challenging to move and pulls away from the sides of the pan when you tilt it, almost like a soft caramel. That pull-away is the most reliable visual cue, and if you want to be exact you can take it to the soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer, around 235 to 245F. Stop too early and the cookies spread thin and don't hold together as well.
Why brush the chocolate on the bottoms instead of dipping?
Two reasons. Flipping each cookie upside down and brushing the bottom with a spatula keeps your fingers out of the hot chocolate, and you can leave the cookies flipped while the chocolate sets so they don't stick to anything.
How long do they bake?
Until the edges begin to brown. For me that lands around 15 minutes, but ovens vary and there's a lot of sugar in these, so start checking at 10 minutes and then every 2 minutes after that. Pull them as soon as the edges color.
How should I store them?
Between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in an airtight container, so the chocolate bottoms don't stick together. They keep at room temperature for several days.