These cookies cheered up Israeli soldiers in 1973. Now they are back

As Israel is at war, a growing number of people feel the need to consume comfort food or send it to soldiers on the front lines.

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Ruth Sirkis, a chef and cookbook author, became famous for her cookie recipe after she conquered the hearts of hundreds of soldiers with the simple but amazing cookies she prepared at home. Several days after the war broke out, she revealed the recipe in a radio interview.

Now, the new brutal attack on Israel has provided the cookies an opportunity for a come-back.

The recipe does not require a standing mixer or any special equipment, nor a great deal of time and energy, allowing every household to prepare the cookies for their loved ones near and far.

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The recipe

Ingredients:

200 grams of unsalted butter or margarine

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

Optional:

1 cup of ground coconut

3 tablespoons of cocoa

Half a cup of raisins

Kalf a cup of pecans

Preparation:

1. Heat the oven to medium-high heat.

2. In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract, and stir with a spoon until the mixture looks uniform.

3. Add the flour and baking powder and stir until the dough is smooth. Add the optional toppings - coconut or cocoa or raisins. 

4. Fill a spoon with the dough, and with the help of a second spoon, drop the dough onto the pan. Leave about 4 cm between each cookie.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the color of the cookies becomes light brown. Be careful not to overbake.

6. Remove the cookies with a metal spatula and place them on an iron grid to cool, so that air can circulate. The cookies come out of the oven quite soft but they become crispy when they cool.