One of my most treasured kitchen tools is the Buddha cookie mold Ozlem bought for me from China Town in San Francisco.
It has been almost two years… On my first visit to San Francisco after my move to Turkey, Ozlem and I were shopping in China Town. We went into this tiny store, and I noticed this Buddha cookie mold instantly. She was kind enough to buy it for me.
Judging from the details in carving, I knew it would be tough to get the cookie dough out in one piece. And actually, that had been the case on my initial trials. I was going through my kitchen tools the other day and I came across this cookie mold again and noticed how long it had been since the last time I’ve used it.
Currently, I am obsessed with Dorie Greenspan’s Sweet Tart Dough recipe. I wanted to experiment a different flavor this time. Even tough it is a tart dough recipe, I believe it is perfect for a cookie as well, since the texture is very close to a sable cookie. I cut small portions of the chilled dough, pressed it inside the Buddha mold and after just a couple of bangs there it was – my first Buddha cookie in one piece!
Below is the adapted recipe for the cookies. I just added two teaspoons of ground cinnamon to the dough and took out the salt – that is it.
Update (14/4/19) – If you’re interested in buying the mold, the name of the store is The Wok Shop, located at 718 Grant Avenue in San Francisco.
CINNAMON BUDDHA COOKIES
Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”
Ingredients
- 1+1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 stick plus 1 tbsp (9 tbsp) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375 F (190C) degrees.
- Pulse flour, sugar and ground cinnamon in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir in the yolk and pulse again until the dough forms clumps and curds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight). If you have a cookie mold like I do, just press small pieces of the dough inside the mold and pound it on the counter to let the cookie come out. If not, then you can roll the dough to any thickness you like and cut out cookies of various shapes.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Place the cookies on top and bake for 20 minutes covered with another layer of parchment paper, remove the paper and bake for another 5 minutes. Let cool.
Are you sure that’s Buddha?
“May the (spicy) force be with you…”
Hey David – Have you noticed his ears? Who else can have ears like that?
OMG, I TOTALLY want one of those! That is the most rockin’ cookie mold I have ever seen!! 😀
Looks funny… I have already thought about the jokes I can make with…!!!
Wonderful! I have several similar molds (even if mine are not that cute) and it is always even a problem to get the cookies out of them. As soon as possible I’m going to try your recipe. Thank you so much.
Sevgili Cenk,
Bayıldım ben bu kalıba. Gidip arasam mı acaba?
Ellerinize sağlık.
Hi Cenk,
Thanks for dropping by my blog. And what a cool mould you have there! These wooden moulds are what Chinese traditionally use to mould mooncakes, but you’ve found such a cool alternative use for it!
cadenze
What a fun mould! I have had similar battles with biscuit/butter moulds – I look forward to playing with your recipe!
Hi Kiriel – I hope you like it. Please let me know!
Hi Cenk,
I just wanted to let you and your readers know that I have found an online source for ordering this mold.
There is a lady in Clarksville, MD that runs an online store called “Adopt Shoppe”. They designs of these wooden cookie/cake molds, which can be found here.
I’ve ordered the Buddha mold myself (for $4.95, quite a steal!) and it just arrived today, so I can confirm that it is indeed the exact same mold you used for your cookies. Also, they sent me a copy of recipies for both “Chinese Moon Cake” and “Chinese Moon Cookies” that appear to be re-printed from “The Wok Shop – 718 Grant Ave, Chinatown, S.F.” … so to me, that further confirms that these are the exact same molds that you and your friend found in the store in Chinatown during your visit.
Cheers!
-Justin
Hi Justin
I am very happy to hear that the mold you ordered turned out to be the one you wanted. This is great news!
Happy baking!
zozi, bu cookiler cok tarcinli mi, ben boyle bayagi tarcinli bir tarif ariyorum, kahve yaninda vermek icin…2 katina cikartiyim mi tarcini?
Zoz – Çok çok tarçınlı değil ama önce 1.5 katını dene istersen.
I am Ozlem`s friend, we talk about you all the time. I love your recipes, and the information on Turkey – I enjoy learning about other cultures.
big hug
Marìa
also if anyone from costa rica is looking for these molds, we located them yesterday in san jose in a chinese store!!!
I just came across your blog through http://www.foodbuzz.com. I love it!!! Your photographs are beautiful… I am very impressed!
I write a food blog as well… for Boston, MA. A world away… 🙂
I’ve always wanted to visit Turkey, so I will be sure to check back often. If you would like to swap blog links, I would love to post yours on my site. My blog is:
http://www.bostonfoodandwhine.blogspot.com
Good luck and keep cooking!
Tammy
good cookie mate it looks tasty yum yum
Yummy, glad I stumbled here. Feel the zen mouth salivating. I have a cool piece of random furniture in the kitchen to my hallway with inspirational cooking gadgets stashed in it. When I don’t know what to make, I reach in and use a random gadget. The buddha cookie form would do well there.
Thanks for the idea.
im doing a project on buddhism and i wanted to do something different than everyone else , thanks to your cookies you have given me the chance to wow my teacher by my cooking thank you . 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 katy