Very quick bread

So, I get it. Totally. It's a long night. Everyone is awake all through the night. Outside there are screams and shouts and it's dark and scary. You wonder if the article in The Egypt Times ("Hints for getting blood stains out of your favorite robe")  will be useful for cleaning clay door posts. The kids are super-hyper and you need to keep them A. Quiet B. Entertained and C. Awake and ready. Not an easy task. Especially when you can't send them out to play. You also need to pack everything you own cause you're moving to a whole other country. Have you ever moved? It's like surviving a tornado. And G-d forbid anyone helps, of course. They won't even pack their own stuff. The men, naturally, sit around complaining about politics, comparing the virtues of the latest model of camels and getting angry that you don't keep the kids quiet enough. Not only are they not helping, they're demanding food every two seconds. Like you have nothing better to do. So you sort of lost sight of the bread in the hullabaloo. I get it. I do.

But matzah? Really? If you're pressed for time you can make quick breads, muffins, scones, biscuits, crackers, even shortbread.


Citrus Almond Shortbread

The bread they should have made on the last night in Egypt
 

2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup slivered almonds
3 Tbs poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs honey
3 Tbs orange peel, grated
2 large egg yolks


Stir together flour, almonds, poppy seeds and salt.

In another bowl, combine sugar, butter and honey; beat until light and fluffy. Add orange peel and egg yolks; beat until smooth.

Add in flour mixture, 1 cup at a time; blend until incorporated.

Place dough on wax paper and shape into two 12-inch rectangular logs. Chill logs for two hours.

Preheat oven to 350F.

With a sharp knife, cut logs into 1/8 inch tick slices and arrange 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. 

Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 10-12 minutes. 

Transfer to racks to cool.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.



OK. So it's not really a quick dish. Still, think of what Pesach would be like if they made this instead of matzah.