Easy Caramel Tarts

Since today is my birthday, instead of a cake, I opted to make something a little less traditional to celebrate. I’m obsessed with caramel—I could drink the stuff—so I decided to make a really easy caramel tart. The tarts are small, eliminating the risk of eating 4 slices, and fast to assemble, which meant I didn’t have to slave in the kitchen on a day when I should be relaxing.

Chrusciki

I will always remember a highlight of family get-togethers being the chrusciki – a Polish cookie – that my grandmother used to bring. Even though everyone in the family called them by a different name – “chirogies,” “chiregies,” never “chrusciki” – these crispy, light cookies were always a hit. Then one year my grandma declared a moratorium on chrusciki, saying they were too much trouble to make. We never had chrusciki again – until this year when I decided to take on the task.

Grandma was right. The process of making chrusciki is involved, including rolling out the dough, cutting the shapes, frying the cookies, and coating them in powdered sugar.

I rolled the dough through a pasta machine to get it this thin.

It was an all-morning cookie assembly line, but, in the end, everyone loved the treat.

Frying the cookies