This week I made a few recipes which were not the best, so I did not post them here on the blog. For example I made a zucchini chocolate cake which was not bad but the cake was just mediocre and I did not like the texture of the cake. I also made little braided breads which turned out just okay and it is not worth writing about this recipe.
When I made one or two recipes in a row, which I am not satisfied with, I return to my all-time favorite cook book: my red white checked Swedish baking book – it reminds me a little bit of Anne Frank’s diary – which contains all classical Swedish cakes, cookies and bread recipe because these recipes never fail. So when this happened to me this week I was browsing through my beloved Swedish baking book because I was in search for a particular bread recipe but instead I was distracted from a few Swedish cookie recipes. Just browsing through this book I got so excited and inspired; and I wanted to make all cookie recipes that I marked at once but of course this is impossible. My first recipe that I marked were a thin crispy cookies which a hint of cardamom.
When I tried a cookie this morning I must admit that I was not very impressed with the result and my first thought was I won’t post this recipe on my blog and I was a little bit disappointed. This afternoon I gave the cookies a second with a cup of chai tea and I feel in love with the cookies. These cookies are perfect for an afternoon tea or the perfect snack while reading a book. They cookies are very light and crispy and I recommend having these cookies with a strong black tea or a chai tea. It complements perfectly the light cardamom flavor of the cookies.

Makes about 30 cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 90 g unsalted butter, soft
  • 75 g granulated sugar
  • 120 g pastry flour
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 small egg
  • 25 g almonds flakes
  • Pearl sugar 

DIRECTIONS

  • Whisk the butter and sugar until creamy.
  • Add the flour and cardamom. Knead the dough until it is smooth.
  • Let the dough, in aplastic wrap, rest in the fridge overnight.
  • The next day take the dough out of the fridge. If the dough is too hard, let it rest on the countertop for 15 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Divide the dough into 30 pieces (the size of a walnut). Form the pieces into balls. Place the balls onto the baking sheets. Press down the balls with your heel of hand, as thin as possible and as even as possible (6 to 7 cm of diameter). I found the method with your heel of hand the best. First I tried it with a rolling pin but this did not work out at all.
  • Whisk the egg lightly. Brush the cookies with the beaten egg. Decorate the cookies with almonds flakes and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
  • Bake the cookies for 5 to 6 minutes until they are slightly golden in color. 
Recipe is adapted from the book "Sju Sortens Kakor", ICA Bokförlag.