This post is mainly going to be about the little woman who taught me to appreciate baked goods (though I sadly never really had the opportunity to learn her methods) and who I can thank for my name. Because I can’t talk about Croatia without talking about my grandmother Kate.

She immigrated from Yugoslavia in the late 1920s at the age of 8 along with her mother and her sister, to join my her father in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She worked in catering as a teenager and continue that work off and on as she raised four children, including my father. She had such a gift for baking and as a child, I distinctly remember that there was always a cake on the counter whenever we visited her house. It was either chocolate with white icing and sprinkles, or yellow cake with chocolate icing. As a picky child these cakes and her “egg toast” as I called it (FYI: it was her take on French Toast) were my favorite things to eat at Grandma’s house. But she had a whole host of other baked goods that at the time felt too exotic for my young palate that I never really indulged. From lady locks to nut rolls to other Eastern European delights, her cookies at the holidays were EPIC.

I fortunately had an opportunity to travel to Croatia in 2011 and as is evident by this project, my palate expanded tremendously as I entered my 20s. I tried all of the native foods on my trio to my grandmother’s homeland. From fish dishes to cakes strewn with poppyseeds and fruit, it was heaven. She was so delighted that I was able to travel there and always wished she had the opportunity to go back. One of my favorite late baking memories of my grandmother was when she was instructing my mom on how to make the dough for one of her recipes in order to prepare cookies for my brother’s wedding. While giving instruction from a chair, she fainted. She came to quite quickly but as you can imagine we called an ambulance. As they were taking her away she exclaimed “Don’t forget to freeze the dough!” No doubt she remained dedicated to her craft.

We were lucky to have her on this earth for 92 years and one of the treasure troves she left behind are her handwritten recipes, including a lot of cookies. I’ve taken up making a few of her recipes at the holidays (though I credit my aunt for typing up some of the recipes and providing notes on how she’s made them over the years as well).

But for the purposes of this project, I wanted to make something new and when I was doing research I just knew I needed to make a dessert. I’d previously made a pretty popular poppyseed cake from the region, but this time I thought I’d try a new cookie. The recipe for medenjaci appealed to me for its simplicity. It seemed like the kind of cookie you could have for dessert or with breakfast. My grandma was a big fan of having a cookie with her coffee and this recipe seemed just right. Described as a “honey biscuit” it doesn’t take the form of what we normally think of biscuits in the UK or in the United States, but somewhere in between. The cookies were almost bread like on the inside with a slightly sweet taste, thanks to the large amount of honey in the dough, but also the citrus-tinged glaze I put on top. These were a bit among my officemates who prefer a less sweet cookie and I might just add these to the holiday cookie rotation. After all, Grandma Kate was always ready for a coffee, cookie, and conversation, and I do my best to honor her every day.

Recipe I used: https://sustainmycookinghabit.com/croatian-biscuits-medenjaci-recipe/

Overall Level of Effort: 2

Skill Level: Beginner

Would Make it Again? Yes

Additional Notes: As far as baked goods go, this was a really straightforward recipe and not overly complicated or time consuming. You can make it with or without a glaze, but I think it’s a bit better with one. I put the overall level of effort at a 2 just because the time involved in making cookies, cooling cookies, and icing cookies can seem a bit laborious for some.