Discover the irresistible flavor of Pryaniki, Russian honey spice cookies that are soft, flavorful, and perfect for freezing! Try this easy recipe and surprise your friends and family with these homemade treats.
Pryaniki have been a staple in Russian kitchens for centuries. These unassuming honey spice cookies are often glazed and served alongside a warm cup of tea. You’ll find them on every store shelf in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus but don’t be fooled by their simplicity. The store-bought versions are often a little underwhelming—think along the lines of graham crackers or vanilla wafers. They’ll satisfy a sweet craving.... when you're desperate, but they’re not exactly mind-blowing.
Now, if you’ve only ever tasted the packaged Pryaniki, get ready for a treat! Homemade Pryaniki are a whole different experience. When you make them yourself with wholesome, recognizable ingredients, the flavor and texture improve by 100%. Trust me, these cookies will steal the show.
I’ve been making Pryaniki for years, and there’s nothing more fun than watching people try them for the first time. When I offer them these cookies, they don’t seem too excited. In fact, if there are other options on the table, the Pryaniki might get ignored. But once they take that first bite, their expressions always change. They go from curious to surprised, reaching for seconds (or thirds!) and asking for the recipe.
The texture of homemade Pryaniki is so much softer in texture than the store bought variety, which is no small wonder, since who knows how long the latter were on the shelf before you opened up the package. You can actually taste the freshness. And the flavor? It's rich with honey, coffee, and a delightful blend of spices—vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, and a hint of anise. Pure magic.
These cookies also freeze beautifully. I love setting up a cozy baking station, throwing on a movie or my favorite podcast, and making a big batch ahead of time. After baking and glazing, just pop the cookies into a sealed zip-top bag and freeze them for months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, simply thaw, and they’ll taste as fresh as the day you made them.
Ingredients
(Scroll to the bottom of the page for the printable recipe card with all the measurements.)
Cookies:
- Instant Coffee + Hot Water
- The coffee adds depth and richness to the flavor of the cookies. You'll need about ⅔ cup of very strong, almost syrupy coffee. While I’ve always used instant coffee for this recipe, you could try brewed coffee, though I haven’t personally tested it, so I can't guarantee the same results.
- Butter
- Butter helps create a soft and tender cookie texture and adds a rich, comforting flavor.
- Granulated Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps create the perfect texture for the cookies.
- Honey
- Honey gives Pryaniki their signature rich, floral sweetness and moisture. It also enhances the cookies’ soft texture.
- Vanilla Extract
- Vanilla adds a warm, aromatic backdrop to the spiced flavor of the cookies. You can't go without vanilla in any cookie recipe, right?
- Spices
- The combination of allspice, grated nutmeg, and anise gives the cookies their warm, aromatic flavor. Allspice adds a slight peppery note, nutmeg brings a cozy fragrance, and anise offers a hint of licorice. Tip: Feel free to experiment with other spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, or cloves to make the recipe your own.
- Eggs (Large eggs)
- Baking Soda (dissolved in 1 teaspoon white vinegar)
- This combination helps the cookies rise slightly, giving them a tender and light texture.
- Baking Powder
- A little extra lift to make sure your Pryaniki have the right balance of fluff and chew.
- All-Purpose Flour
- The main structure of the cookies. I haven’t experimented with other flour alternatives or gluten-free options, so I can’t vouch for how they’ll turn out.
Glaze:
- Powdered Sugar
- The glaze is made of powdered sugar, which gives it a smooth, sweet finish that hardens slightly for a nice shine on top of the cookies.
- Milk
- Milk helps thin out the glaze to the perfect consistency. You can adjust it depending on how thick or thin you want the glaze to be.
- Vanilla Extract (for a dash of flavor)
How To Make Pryaniki
- Dissolve the Coffee and Melt the Butter
- In a medium saucepan, dissolve the instant coffee in hot water, then add the butter, sugar, and honey.
- Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. The key here is to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar completely so that the mixture is smooth and uniform.
- Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl and let it cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the Spices
- Stir in all your spices—vanilla extract, allspice, nutmeg, and anise.
- Whisk in the Eggs & Leavening
- Now, whisk in the eggs, being sure the mixture has cooled enough so the eggs won’t scramble.
- Then, add the baking soda dissolved in vinegar and baking powder. You’ll notice a little fizzing when you mix the baking soda and vinegar—that’s the magic that helps the cookies have a light, tender texture.
- Add the Flour
- Gradually add the flour and mix it in with a large wooden spoon until fully incorporated. It’ll be thick and a bit sticky.
- Don't worry if it seems a little softer than you expected—it will firm up as it cools.
- Rest/Chill the Dough
- Originally, the recipe calls for letting the dough rest at room temperature for 4 hours, covered. That works great, but my personal preference is to chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or even better, overnight. I love the convenience of chilling the dough overnight—it breaks up the long process of cookie making and makes the dough much easier to work with.
- Preheat the Oven & Prepare the Baking Sheet
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Shape and Bake the Cookies
- I like to use a 1 tablespoon measuring scoop to scoop out the dough. Then, roll it into balls with your hands to make sure they’re uniform in size and bake evenly.
- Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space between them since they will expand and spread.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. Don’t over bake or the cookies won't be as soft.
Olga's Tip:
Be sure to rest & chill the dough before shaping.
Resting the dough is a crucial step to get the best texture for your cookies. You’ll want to let the dough rest for at least 4 hours before shaping the cookies.
This gives the gluten time to hydrate and makes the dough much easier to work with. If you skip this step and try to shape the cookies right away, you’ll find the dough too soft and sticky to handle.
For even better results, chill the dough in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. This makes it even easier to shape and helps create perfectly soft, chewy cookies. Trust me, it’s worth the wait!
Glazing the Pryaniki
Glazing the Pryaniki not only makes them look absolutely irresistible, but it also seals in the moisture, keeping the cookies soft and fresh. Without the glaze, these cookies can dry out quickly and become hard. So, glazing is a key step to ensure they stay tender!
- Before you glaze the cookies, make sure they’re fully cooled—if they’re still warm, the glaze will melt right off and won’t stick.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- If you want to switch things up, you can swap out the vanilla for mint or almond extract, or even add some zest from lemon, lime, or orange for a fresh twist.
- Now, dip each cooled cookie into the glaze, letting the excess drip off.
- Place them on a rack or parchment paper to let the glaze set. Once it’s dry, feel free to flip the cookies over and glaze the other side.
- Traditionally, Pryaniki are glazed on both sides, but I usually just do one for simplicity. (If I want them to last longer, I glaze the bottom as well.
- Quick tip: The glaze can thicken as it dries, so it’s best to work quickly. If it starts to get too thick, just add a tiny splash of milk to loosen it up. And for a smoother, faster process, it’s always fun to coax someone to help you glaze—it’ll go much faster!
Storing the Cookies
Once your Pryaniki are all glazed and ready to go, the best way to store them is in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll stay soft and delicious for at least a week or two—if they last that long!
The great thing about these cookies is that they’re perfect for making ahead of time. In fact, they store really well, so you can freeze them in an airtight container or zip-top bag for a few months. When you're ready to enjoy them again, just let them thaw at room temperature, and they’ll taste just as fresh as the day you made them. It’s like having a little taste of homemade goodness on hand whenever you need it!
Helpful Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
You can absolutely use a stand mixer to make the dough, but I don’t recommend using a hand mixer. The dough is quite thick and heavy, and it will likely burn out the motor of a hand mixer. If you're set on using a stand mixer, I recommend halving the recipe to make it easier on your equipment. Mixing by hand is also super simple and, honestly, it’s not as much work as it seems! It comes together quite easily.
This recipe yields about 105-110 cookies, which is perfect for holidays or special occasions when you want to share. But if you don't need such a large batch, you can easily halve the recipe! I always make the full batch since I love sharing these cookies with friends and family.
t’s normal for Pryaniki to spread a little while baking, but if they flatten too much, a few things could be at play. The most important factor is chilling the dough. The colder the dough, the less it will spread. For best results, refrigerate the dough overnight!
Another culprit could be imprecise flour measurements. Too little flour might cause the cookies to spread excessively. If you’re still having trouble, try adding 1-2 extra tablespoons of flour to the dough next time. Also, when rolling the dough balls, make them slightly taller instead of perfectly round to help keep the cookies thicker and prevent them from spreading too much.
If your glaze is too thin, simply add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. If it’s too thick, just add a splash more milk to loosen it. It’s all about adjusting until you get that perfect, smooth consistency.
The traditional Pryaniki are mildly spiced, but if you love a little more flavor, feel free to adjust the spices. You can add more of your favorite spices for a bolder punch. Personally, I love adding cinnamon to the mix. You can also experiment with adding other spices like cloves, ginger, or cardamom to play around with the flavor and make the cookies truly your own.
Watch the Pryaniki Video
Pryaniki - Russian Honey Spice Cookies
Discover the irresistible flavor of Pryaniki, Russian honey spice cookies that are soft, flavorful, and perfect for freezing! Try this easy recipe and surprise your friends and family with these homemade treats.
- Prep Time: 120 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 380 minutes
- Yield: 105 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ½ cup instant coffee
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups honey
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon anise (ground or liquid extract)
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 6 cups all purpose flour
Glaze:
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup milk
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, dissolve the instant coffee in the water.
- Add the butter, sugar and honey to the dissolved coffee in the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat and cook, stirring, just until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves and the mixture is homogenous. Take off the heat, pour it into a large bowl. and cool for about 10-15 minutes.
- Add all the spices - vanilla, allspice, nutmeg and anise. You can also add cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, mint extract, etc.
- Whisk in the eggs, the baking soda dissolved in vinegar and baking powder. You will notice that the mixture will fizz a little when it's all mixed up.
- Add the flour and mix with a large wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated.
- Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and set aside at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Shape the cookie dough into approximately 1 Tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some room around each cookie, since they will expand while baking. I use a 1 Tablespoon measuring scoop to get the cookie dough out of the bowl and then roll it around in my hands. This will make sure that all the cookies are the same size and will bake evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake, or the cookies will be too hard.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and the milk to make a glaze. You can flavor the glaze by adding some kind of extract to it, like vanilla, mint, almond, etc.
- Dip the cooled cookies into the glaze, letting the excess run off. Set the glazed cookies on a rack or parchment paper to dry. When the glaze is dry, you can flip the cookies over and glaze the other side as well. When glazing the cookies, work fast, since the glaze will be harder to work with when it starts to dry up. You can add a tiny splash more of milk to thin it out if it hardens.
- Store the cookies at room temperature in a sealed container.
Notes
You could probably use a mixer to make the cookie batter, but make sure to use a good quality machine, since this batter will be very thick and heavy and may burn out a model that isn't very strong. The amount of batter is very large, so if you want to use a mixer, I would recommend halving the recipe. This recipe yields 105-110 cookies. Of course, you can halve the recipe and make less cookies, but we usually make Pryaniki around the holidays or special occasions, we always make the full batch, since we give away lots of cookies to others as well as enjoy them for many parties and events.
Storing and Freezing:
Another amazing thing about these cookies is that they are great to make ahead of time. The baked and glazed cookies store very well for at least a week or two in an airtight container and you can freeze them in an airtight container or ziptop bag for a few months. Simply thaw the cookies and they taste just as fresh as the day you made them.
I made this. It’s currently chilling in the frig. Although it is a blackout in sf tonight. It should be fine. Mine are less shiny and perfect because I used warm water in warming up my honey and it got in the honey. My plan became a hard freeze
Omg so I married a Russian immigrant and have been wanting to make some things for him that bring back some of his good memories for him. So my best friend found this recipe before she came to town last month just before my husband's birthday and we made these for him! He loved them and I loved putting that smile on his face! I thought they were pretty good too so I will definitely be making these again in the near future! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
These cookies were addictive, probably because I loved the (soft) texture!
I halved the recipe and baked the cookies on Day 1, let them cool, and stored them room temp in airtight containers overnight. Glazed/decorated them on Day 2. I ended up making the coffee/butter/honey concoction twice because I thought I had maybe burnt the coffee based on the odor--but my 2nd try smelled exactly the same, so I moved on to the next step after letting it cool down.
I used the following spices/flavors, aside from the coffee, butter, & honey: anise extract, ground nutmeg, vanilla extract, allspice, cinnamon (1/4 tsp for halved recipe) and ground cloves (1/4 tsp).
Based on comments, I only baked the cookies for 16-18 min (they felt firm), and I used almond milk vs cow's for the glaze. I did a double glaze layer because it came out sorta transparent :(. For flair--while the glaze was still wet--I sprinkled all the cookies with tiny silver sugar beads (that look like metal; gold-colored would have also worked well), and a few I added some lemon zest to also, just to see if it was a good addition. Conclusion: the cookies were beautiful, and soft, and yummy!
Next time, I will probably not halve the recipe, I will use decaf coffee (since I was eating so many back to back haha), I will use a 1/2 tsp more of anise, a little more nutmeg maybe?, I will let the batter rest for 5 hours (it was kinda sticky towards the middle), and I will again bake them for 16-18 min only. I will add a little bit of lemon zest to the glaze for the last 4th of cookies.
Thank you for the recipe!
Definitely make sure to let it rise overnight. I tested this by letting it rise for 2 hours. It does not turn out the same. More bread like and doughy, still good just doesn't look the same.
Hi Olga, I had a question about the Dough, if it could be made few days before baking the cookies?
Thanks
I have never made it days in advance, so I am not sure if it will work.
I made these a Christmas, but this time, I substituted Stevia in the Raw (powdered stevia) in place of the sugar. They came out great!! I have also found they are great with wine! I like a glass of wine with and after dinner, so sometimes I like something a little bit sweet with it, but I find that chocolate is too sweet...it makes the wine, especially red wine, taste too dry. These, however, have just the right amount of sweetness to complement the wine!
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Jill. I am so glad you were able to make it work for you and enjoyed the Pryaniki.
Hey Olga- I had a lovely time making the dough and it smells lovely, my Ukrainian cousins were so excited to see how they came out! However, I read the recipe a bit wrong and instead of setting them aside overnight, I left them in the refrigerator overnight. The dough is freezing cold and solid! Do you think it's salvageable?
These are delicious! As someone who lives in the US now and used to live in Kazakhstan, your recipes help me get tastes of home!
I do have one question. These are a bit sweeter and lighter than some in my memory (variations by region, etc. etc.) I'm wondering if I should just cut some sugar or maybe add some molasses to get that exact flavor I remember. Thoughts?
Olga,
Thank you so much for the recipe!! Family loved it so much. Definitely will bake these pryaniki again 🙂
For those who asked about coffee- I didn't have instant coffee and was not planning to get some so went ahead and brewed my own (ground coffee) and used it instead ( 1/2 cup of very strong brewed coffee). I believe the dough turned out the way it supposed to. I did as you recommended and let it sit overnight on the counter and bake the cookies in the morning 😉
Love, love, love them. Thank you!!!
Is this a traditional Russian recipe, or us this your variation of it? Is the coffee traditional in them? I am just curious. Thank you. Korinna
I first made these 4 years ago and all the Russians in my life have been asking me to make them again ever since! To their delight, I finally made them again this year. I followed the recipe exactly as written and they came out perfectly. Even better than I remember. So flavorful and so soft!
Thank you so much! My husband remembers these from his USSR childhood, except he says these are 100x better because they're not rock hard like the factory made kind! I added the spices I had and wanted (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom) in similar quantities and it was delicious. These are going to be our yearly Hanukkah/Christmas tradition!
I'm so happy to hear that, Cat! Thank you for taking the time to write. I love hearing that others our enjoying our favorite family recipes too.
I made Pryaniki true to the recipe. I added cardamom, cloves in addition to the regular spices. They turned out to be super nice. Wish I could post a picture. I love them. Husband loves them. I remember the Pryaniki in Russia used to have PRYANIKI embossed on them. I remember the taste being very similar - almost identical. Thank you for the lovely recipe. I made a huge batch so some lucky neighbors will get cookies today. Thanks again Olga. You made my day!
I'm thrilled that you were happy with the recipe, Abby:). Your neighbors really are lucky that they will get to enjoy some Pryaniki too. Thank you for taking the time to write.
I made these to test and see what I thought about maybe making them around Christmas - they are so delicious! I had exactly the same experience when offering them to people - as if they were thinking “yeah, I have tried gingerbread before” but then once they tasted them it was “So what’s in these then? How do you make them?” Haha. I used decaf coffee because I’m quite sensitive to caffeine and have very young children who I wanted to share them with 🙂 such a great recipe - it’s definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
That's so great, Laura! I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Isn't it awesome to surprise people with something they aren't expecting? Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
Hi Olga! I am really looking forward to making these cookies. I have a young volunteer working for me who is amazing. She is Russian so I thought I would make these and bring them to her for a Christmas present. Thank you for posting this recipe 😊
That's so thoughtful of you, Kristen. I am sure she will appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the cookies.
Hi again. Should’ve replied a long time ago. Sorry. My volunteer, Ester, loved them! What a bit! And so delicious! Am making another batch today. I know it’s not Christmas but they are soooo good!
I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Kristen. They are definitely so tasty any time of the year:).