Inspired by the poppy seed breads made in many Russian homes, these cookies capture the traditional flavors without the time investment of making a yeast bread. You can substitute 1 cup walnuts (toasted, cooled, and finely chopped) for the poppy seeds if you prefer.

　　

Ingredients

Makes about 34 cookies

　　2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

　　1/2 cup sugar

　　1 teaspoon vanilla

　　1/4 teaspoon salt

　　2 cups all-purpose flour

　　1/3 cup poppy seeds

　　

Special Equipment

a 1-gal sealable plastic bag (not stand-up or pleated); a 2 1/2- by 1 1/2-inch fluted oval cookie cutter

　　

Step 1

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

　　

Step 2

Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and poppy seeds and mix until just combined.

　　

Step 3

Transfer dough to plastic bag and pat out dough to size of bag. Press out excess air and seal bag. Roll out dough with a rolling pin to flatten evenly and to fill bag (dough will be about 1/4 inch thick). Freeze dough on a baking sheet until firm, at least 20 minutes.

　　

Step 4

Open bag and cut apart along seams, reserving bag for rolling scraps. Cut out as many ovals as possible with cookie cutter, reserving scraps, and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging about 1/2 inch apart. Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are golden, 16 to 20 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 5 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to racks to cool completely.

　　

Step 5

Gather and reroll scraps using reserved plastic bag (to keep dough from sticking), then cut out and bake more cookies in same manner.