Sochniki

Make the dough. Cream the softened butter together with the sugar.

Add the egg, sour cream, and salt, then mix well.

Add the baking powder and flour, and stir with a spoon until smooth. Gather the dough with your hands and shape it into a ball.

Make the filling. Mash the cottage cheese, sugar, and vanilla sugar together with a spoon.

Beat the egg yolk in a small cup, then add most of it to the cottage cheese. Also add the sour cream and flour to the cottage cheese and mix everything together well.

Roll out the dough on a work surface to about 5 mm thick. Using a cup or saucer, cut out circles about 9–10 cm in diameter. Gather the remaining dough back into a ball, roll it out again, and cut out more circles.

Gently flatten a circle of dough with your hands. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling (about 50 g) on one half of the circle. Spread the filling out slightly.

Fold the free half of the circle over the filling, leaving the filling peeking out nicely.

Place the sochniki on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add a teaspoon of water to the cup with the remaining egg yolk and stir to combine. Brush the dough and the cottage cheese filling generously with the egg yolk wash. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 20–25 minutes.

Let the baked sochniki cool completely. Store sochniki with cottage cheese in a bag to keep them from drying out.