Name: Gluten Free Croatian Bear Paw Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 20 cookies
Ingredients: 1 1/2 stick (170 g) unsalted butter, softened; 3/4 cup (170 g) caster sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; zest of 1 orange; 2 eggs; 1 3/4 cups (220 g) ground walnuts; 3 cups (360 g) plain gluten free flour blend ((I've used a simple store-bought blend of rice, potato and maize flour with no added xanthan gum)); 1/2 tsp xanthan gum; pinch of salt; 1 cup (110 g) powdered sugar, sifted ((for rolling the baked cookies)); fluted cookie moulds ((if you don't have the moulds, you can shape the cookie dough into balls and bake them in that manner))

These wonderful Croatian bear paw cookies are a Christmas favourite in our house – buttery, sweet, rich and so incredibly aromatic! A gluten free variation on a traditional Croatian cookie recipe, their taste will knock your socks off and leave you craving more.

Here’s a fun fact: the longer you keep these cookies in a closed container, the better they get. (Where “better” means they go from “damn delicious” to “too good to be true”.)

Another fact: they never last long enough to get to the “better” stage.

These lovelies are high up on the must-definitely-bake-at-Christmas list in our house. They are called bear paw cookies and they’re a traditional Croatian treat – and also absolutely. To. Die. For.

I’m not even kidding. Give me a choice between a plate of triple chocolate chip cookies and a plate of these beauties, and I’ll choose the bear paw cookies every single time. And taking into account my (teeny tiny) obsession with chocolate… that’s a compliment and a half.

It’s actually a surprisingly simple recipe, but it ticks all the boxes.

The cookie dough is made from the usual suspects – butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, (gluten free) flour and salt. But what makes it extra special is a whole heap of ground walnuts. They take a simple cookie and transform it into a masterpiece. Add to that a pinch of orange zest and you have yourself a winner.

After these lovelies are baked, you have to remove them from their moulds and toss them into powdered sugar as quickly as possible. The quicker you do it, the larger the quantity of powdered sugar that sticks to them. And when there’s a choice between slightly burnt fingers and a thicker sweet sugary crust… the choice is obvious.

Honestly, there’s nothing not to love about these amazing cookies.

Buttery.
Crumbly.
Sweet.
Nutty.
Rich.
Aromatic.

And why bear paw cookies? Simple, it’s their shape, which they get from the fluted moulds in which they’re baked. Apparently, the ridges reminded people of bear paw (“šape” in Slovenian and Croatian).

Regardless of what they’re called, once you have a taste of the sweet, buttery, nutty deliciousness, these Croatian bear paw cookies will undoubtedly become one of your favourite Christmas cookies. Of course, that’s not to say you can’t make them at other times… like, you know, every day.