Cafe Fernando's Almond Cookies

A cup of coffee and some flaky almond cookies with a new book in my hand I am sitting in my balcony trying to ignore screaming kids and enjoying the beautiful weather. Summer is officially here. After coming back from an exhausting volunteering project in İzmir, I can finally relax and have a time of my own. 

A couple of months ago I bought a new cooking book called Cafe Fernando. It is written by the famous food blogger "Cenk Sönmezsoy" who loves San Francisco, baking, chocolate and macarons, just like me. He has won many awards with his blog, book and original recipes. I wish I had found his blog earlier but late is better than never. 

photos from: http://bigumigu.com/haber/tasarim_gozu_olan_kurabiye_ustalari_araniyor_cafefernando 

I tried the first recipe on his book called "Cenk's Home Cookies". In Turkey, every mother or grandmother has their special cookie recipe that they can pass on to their children and grandchildren. We do not have a specific recipe written on a piece but my grandmother always bakes the best cookies by measuring with her eyes and experimenting with different nuts and fruits. And as you can imagine it might be very difficult to follow a recipe where you are asked a handful of sugar and plenty of flour. This is why I chose to try Cafe Fernando's recipe. 

photo from: http://bigumigu.com/haber/tasarim_gozu_olan_kurabiye_ustalari_araniyor_cafefernando

The cookies are so good that you cannot stop eating. It is not to sweet but has a crunchy topping and a flaky texture which is what I love in a cookie. I highly recommend that you try this because it is purely worth your time. It is time to use those almonds that you have bought a couple of months ago and that you couldn't use them because you've spent too much money on. Believe me it is worth it. I hope you'll enjoy. 

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Summer is the time where I get to travel and most importantly visit my summer house in Çanakkale. It is the only time where I get to relax, enjoy the sunshine on the silky sand, read a couple of books of my choice with my sunglasses on and swim in the crystal clear sea. However what I like the most is that I get to visit a small island called "Bozcaada". It is just across where our house is and only takes 45 minutes to get there with the boat. 

The port

Bozcaada is known with its jams, wine, fish, herbs and most importantly its super cold sea. But for me a cold sea is the best after a burning summer day. I can say that warm water is definitely not for me and this is why I love Bozcaada so much. I would love to spend the entire summer there but a lot of people choose to come here during the season and it makes this tiny cute island a disaster because of the traffic, and food problems. Even the hotels are overloaded and you can count yourselves lucky if you have a loaf of bread and a bottle of water. This is why I only go there just before the season starts. 

Ayazma Beach

The classic Bozcaada lunch, roasted eggplants, fried calamari and samphire...

for more photos of Bozcaada

Three weeks ago I went there for the weekend with my entire family; my aunt, my uncle, my grandmother, my grandfather, my cousin, my father and my mother. We visited  Alesta Otel owned by one of our friend who lives in Bozcaada. She invited us for the authentic island breakfast full of jams, pişi and olives. It was spectacular. After the breakfast, we had coffee and some cookie that I baked for her. I had to hide the cookie box on our way to the island because m uncle and my cousin were trying to eat "Just one more". Everyone, even the guests that were staying at the hotel fell in love with the cookies. Later I baked a batch for my Geography class and they also liked the cookies. 

So, I am sharing the recipe for the most amazing "Chocolate Crinkle Cookies":

Note: If you bake these overnight, it will be easier to shape them. They need minimum 5 hours of resting in the refrigerated.