«mount olympus» mediterranean mosaic everything cookies

raisins & sour cherries/cranberries maceration :

• at least 2 hours before baking (or better, the night before), combine the raisins and dried sour cherries or cranberries in a small bowl with the 3 tbsp cognac/brandy, cover and let the fruit macerate until the liquid is mostly absorbed (reserve 1 tbsp for the dough’s wet ingredients, after soaking)

browned butter : 

• melt the butter (in a light-colored casserole to observe the browning correctly) at medium-high heat and simmer for 10 minutes (until the bubbling stops) and add the milk powder and keep simmering 5 minutes, while stirring until deeply browned, transfer to a cold bowl and chill for 15-20 minutes in the freezer, stirring it every 5 minutes, then reserve at room temperature 

tahini caramels : 

• if using honey or glucose, place it in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it begins to bubble and thin out. if using granulated sugar, melt it with 1 teaspoon of water until it turns a light amber
• once the sweetener is hot and fluid, pour in the tahini and whisk vigorously (at first, it may look like the mixture is seizing or "breaking," but continue whisking) over low heat until it smooths out into a glossy, unified paste and add the salt
• for a soft filling, cook for 1–2 minutes while stirring constantly and for slightly firmer candy, use a thermometer and take the mixture to a maximum of 115°C (going up to 118°C is fine for directly eating a firmer  candy but it will harden too much during the baking)
• pour the soft mass onto parchment paper in a small square dish until firmer and then freeze it for 30 minutes before portioning into small squares, then keep chilled until needed

mosaic “everything” inclusions : 

• prepare all the elements you wish to include in the cookies, chop the apricots and figs and candied cherries and candied orange peel into smaller hazelnut-sized pieces and halve the other nuts and strain the macerated raisins and sour cherries or cranberries and reserve the remaining brandy (1 tbsp) and break the honey-sesame brittle into smaller shards and reserve some of the more colorful pieces separately, to press them onto the shapped cookies later (optionally, add chopped chocolate too but reduce the other inclusions)

cookie dough :

• combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and reserve
• cream the browned butter with the sugars for 3-5 minutes, then incorporate the olive oil, tahini, honey, eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and any residual brandy  (from the dried fruits maceration) and mix until smooth
• add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and stir until no flour is visible
• fold almost all of the inclusions (about ¾ of everything) directly inside the soft dough mixture (reserving the other inclusions for later)
• place the cookie dough on a baking paper covered baking dish and flatten out, cover and refrigerate the bulk dough for 12–24 hours
• separate the chilled dough (I simply lift it out of the baking dish with the baking paper, place it on a work surface) and slice into 24 portions (around 70g each) and divide each piece into two clumps

assembly : 

• place the caramel square in the center and sandwich the divided clumps together and press the extra reserved inclusions into the craggy top surface and reshape them as wide as they are high (like rounded cylinders) and chill again in the refrigerator for several hours (ideally 12 hours) to correctly set the inclusions on the surface until ready to bake (but remember to freeze the raw shaped cookies 15-20 minutes before baking)

baking : 

• bake at 175°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes maximum, on a flat baking dish covered with baking paper, rotating the baking dish half-way through (the edges should look crisp and darker and the center should look softer)
• remove from the oven, immediately use a water glass to “scoot” or reshape them by moving them around quickly in circles or hoola hoops (or use baking rings for perfectly identical cookies shapes) and let them cool down completely before removing them from the baking sheet and chill before glazing or (store directly in an airtight container in the refrigerator  (up to 2 weeks).
• If glazing, prepare the glaze until smooth and use a small spoon to drizzle some thick glaze over the top center of each cooled cookie (to make it resemble a snow-capped mountain peak) and let dry completely before storing away in the refrigerator
• serve at room-temperature or slightly chilled (if too warm outside).