Volove Oke

Ox Eye Cookies

See below for recipe

This delicious cookie recipe has been passed down in our family for over 100 years. It reflects our heritage of Molve village located in the heart of the Podravina region in Croatia, where the original cookies were made using a round glass, and the center hole was made with a thimble – hence the name “Volovo oko” (“Ox Eye”). We warmly recommend it to you – enjoy making them. They are easy to prepare and their flavor will win you over with the very first bite!

At the 10th “Virovska Prkačijada”, The First European Festival of Small Traditional Cakes, these cookies proudly won the prestigious 1st place award for best traditional cookie in 2025.

Volove Oke – Recipe

Adapted by Eric Glavica

Ingredients

Dough

• 5 ½ dl flour
• 1 ½ dl sugar
• 250 g butter
• 2 hard-boiled egg yolks (from free-range eggs), mashed
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 1 untreated organic lemon (juice and grated zest)

Filling

• Homemade plum or apricot jam
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Mix the flour with sugar, baking powder, vanilla sugar, mashed hard-boiled egg yolk and room-temperature butter. Add the grated lemon zest and juice and knead into a smooth dough.
2. Roll the dough out to a medium thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out stars or any desired shape.
3. Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 180°C for 15 minutes, so they remain light in color.
4. Let them cool, spread with jam and sandwich two cookies together. Optionally, dust with powdered sugar.

For more recipes, visit www.worldchefs.org/news.