The Happy Home Cook: Maria Orosa’s Freedom Cookies

The Happy Home Cook features cherished recipes of Filipino dishes from well-known foodies and contributors. If you have a recipe that you are proud of and would like to share, please send it along with a photo of the dish, your two-sentence bio and your picture to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.

Maria Orosa Freedom Cookies are made with vitamin-rich rice bran. (Photo by Claire Mercado-Obias)

These rice bran cookies, rich in vitamins A, E, D and Vitamin B Complex, saved many lives in the Philippines during World War II. As such they are almost sacred. They symbolize the struggle of the Filipinos for freedom, and the bravery of Maria Orosa, who helped feed a starving nation during the war. Today we can call them the “Maria Orosa Freedom Cookies” in honor of her courage and dedication.

Ingredients:

½ cup (115 g) butter
1/3 cup (75 g) sugar
½ cup (70 g) rice bran or tiki tiki flour
½ cup (70 g) all-purpose flour
1 egg, well beaten
Grated rind from half a lime
Additional butter, for brushing

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, rice bran, all-purpose flour, egg, and grated rind.  

Brush two cookie sheets with butter. Scoop the dough, about one teaspoon per cookie, placing it about two inches (10 cm) apart on the greased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for nine to ten minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown.

Let the cookies rest about one to two minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack. Makes about 30 cookies. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

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Norma Olizon-Chikiamco is the author of Maria Orosa Freedom Fighter, Scientist and Inventor from the Philippines. She is also the author of Pan de Sal Saves the Day and Pan de Sal Saves the Day Activity Book.

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