Review: Kupel's Bakery at 421 Harvard Street, Brookline, Mass. Get directions.
Recipe: Rosenmunnar Swedish thumbprint cookies

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Bagels, pastries and hamantashen

As a Bostonian who regularly craves foods I can only find in New York, namely bagels and pizza, I often have the urge to plan a weekend away just to stock up. But I can save myself the three-hour drive -- at least for bagels -- by walking over to Kupel's Bakery in Brookline. Kupel's has some of the freshest bagels in about a dozen different varieties, each one fresh, warm, soft on the inside and crusty on the outside. They're still not New York bagels, but they're as close as you'll find in this state. They also have fresh cream cheeses and lox to top them off.

But, before your eyes even settle on the bagels in this busy little bakery, you'll notice a store-long case of flaky, sweet treats. Some are mouth-wateringly delicious. Some are not quite as sweet as you'd like them to be. 

At the very top of the list so far:

• Cinnamon rugelach: This is my favorite pastry at Kupel's for its mildly sweet, savory doughiness. It reminds me of a mini, tightly wound cinnamon bun. 
• Hammantashen: This three-cornered pastry, typically eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim, is fruity, freshly made and delicious at Kupel's. (See photo.)
• Bagels: Of course.

A little further down the list:

• Chocolate sacks: This pastry is shaped like a hobo sack and filled with chocolate. Sounds delicious, right? It was just a little too dry and not chocolatey enough. We didn't finish it.
• Cinnamon sticks: A twisted, foot-long cinnamon stick would look tempting to any cinnamon fan, like me. Unfortunately, the pastry is all flake and no dough. It's hard to break apart and probably not one I'd order again. (See photo.)

Although I'm being critical, whatever you choose, you really can't go wrong... As I'm about to go finish off another chunk of that cinnamon stick.

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Rosenmunnar Swedish thumbprint cookies

I'll be testing out this simple hamentashen recipe soon enough. Until then, here's a recipe I've been using since I was a kid, when all I could make well was thumbprint cookies -- for obvious reasons. If you do have kids, btw, try making these with them next weekend. They're fun and easy!

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1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 or 3 different types of fruit preserves 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Thoroughly incorporate vanilla extract. Then slowly add sifted flour and mix well.

3. Place 1-inch teaspoons of dough onto the cookie sheet. Make a thumbprint in each.

4. Spoon a small dollop of your favorite preserves into each cookie's thumbprint. I use blueberry, strawberry and raspberry preserves for some variety.

5. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.

6. Serve with chocolate milk!

Happy dining!

FC

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