Russian Cookies "Rozochki" with Farmer's Cheese

These cookies symbolize the happiness of my childhood. My Russian mom would make them for special occasions and sometimes for no occasion at all- just to surprise us with our favorite dessert. "Rozhochki" means "little roses" in Russian.

Rozochki are soft and not too sweet. Russian desserts are traditionally significantly less sweet than American desserts. The main ingredient is farmer's cheese, although you can substitute farmer's cheese with cottage cheese. All you need to do is to squeeze all of the whey out of cottage cheese by using a cheese cloth. Rozochki will turn out the best if you use farmer's cheese though. Click here to check out how you can easily make home-made farmer's cheese yourself. You can also buy farmer's cheese in Eastern European stores in your area. My favorite American brand of farmer's cheese is Lifeway.

• 1 egg, separated
• 1/3 cup sugar for frosting plus 1/2 cup sugar for dough (if you like things sweeter, use 3/4 cup of sugar for the dough) 
• 1 1/2 cup farmer's cheese aka tvorog (or same amount of cottage cheese. Use a cheese cloth to drain all of the liquid out of cottage cheese)
• 4 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (plus more for working with dough)
• cooking spray
• powdered suger (optional) 

1. Preheat oven to 350F. To make frosting beat egg white with 1/3 cup sugar until mixture looks white, thick, and foamy. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolk, and farmer's cheese. Add melted butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix everything well. Combine baking powder with flour. Gradually add flour to farmer's cheese mixture. Mix everything well and knead until all ingredients are worked in.You'll see little white specks of farmers cheese. It is normal. Your dough should look like this and will be a bit sticky.

3. Divide dough into two parts. Sprinkle working surface with flour. Roll first part of dough into a 1/4''-thick rectangle. (Mine looks more like an oval :)) Spread a few tablespoons of frosting over dough.

4. Beginning at the longer side of rectangle, carefully roll up dough. Cut into 1 1/2'' pieces.

5. Grease cookie sheet with cooking spray. Arrange each cookie on sheet. Use your fingers to make them look like cute little roses. Repeat step 3 through 5 with second half of dough.

6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

7. Let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Enjoy!