Love At First Bite

by Two Chums on December 13, 2012

This week has been devoted to holiday traditions and memories. These are the things that connect us to our history and to each other. Food is a big part of that history and those special family memories. If you already have food traditions, nurture them and pass them on. If you don’t, now is a good time to begin creating them. And there is nothing like a special cookie that you make year to year to trigger the sweet memories of family gatherings. A cookie that you can see in the background of the photo of English Toffee from yesterday’s post is a new favorite of ours. Butter cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar after cooking are a familiar and delicious holiday tradition. There is a variation of these treats that make an appearance in nearly every culture around the world, from Mexican Wedding Cookies to Hungarian Vanilla Crescents to Greek Kourabiethes to Polish Chrusciki. But one of our new personal favorites is a Scandinavian version of this cookie that came to us via a great baker, and our dear friend, Leah Bergman of Freutcake. If you have never visited Freutcake, you really should check out this beautiful website.

Leah posted this wonderful cookie recipe that incorporates all the usual ingredients with one big exception. The butter in these delightful cookies is browned before it is mixed with the other ingredients to make these addictive treats. Browning the butter adds a layer of deliciousness that results from the milk solids in the butter becoming “toasted” or browned which adds a nut like taste. The cardamom, a spice that is associated with Indian, Middle Eastern and Scandinavian cooking, gives a very subtle flavor addition. Browned Butter Cardamom Cookies are destined to be not only a mainstay on our holiday tables but if you try them, I bet they will appear (and disappear) on your holiday tables as well. WARNING….these cookies may be habit forming! It is very hard to stop eating them once you have had one. It will most certainly be “love at first bite” 🙂

Browned Butter Cardamom Cookies (from Freutcake)

1 cup salted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom (divided)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs whole milk

Directions

1. Melt butter in 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching closely, until butter just starts to turn golden brown (3 to 5 minutes). (Butter will get foamy and bubble.) Immediately remove from heat. Pour into bowl; refrigerate until cooled (30 minutes).

2. Heat oven to 350°F. Combine cooled browned butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat at medium speed until well mixed. Add egg yolk, vanilla and 1 tsp cardamom; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour, until mixture is no longer crumbly and forms a dough. If the dough is too crumbly add up to 2 Tbs whole milk until dough comes together.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls or use a small cookie scoop*. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies puff and start to turn light golden brown. (Cookies will have cracks in them.)

4. In a separate bowl mix powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp cardamom.

5. Allow to cool 1 minute on cookie sheets. Immediately remove to a cooling rack and cool an additional minute. Roll cookies in powdered sugar while warm and again when completely cooled. Store between sheets of waxed paper in loosely covered container.

* Note: I flatten the dough balls just slightly before baking because i prefer them to be more of a disc shape. If you don’t do this they stay in a domed or more ball like shape. It is up to you to decide which you prefer. Happy baking!

4 Comments

Denise #

How about a recipe for the chocolate toffee stuff, pictured on another plate with the Browned Butter Cookies. Oh…. so many goodies this time of year 🙂

Thanks,
-d

December 13, 2012
- Two Chums #
  
  Love that you asked, Denise. The English Toffee recipe is on yesterday’s post…December 12th, called “Things Memories Are Made Of”. It is the easiest candy you can possibly make. If you can stir a spoon you can’t mess it up. Let us know how you like it once you’ve tried it and thanks again for asking 🙂
  
  December 13, 2012
Leah // Freutcake #

Beautiful photo! So glad you ladies enjoy these cookies as much as I do. They really are one of my new favorite holiday cookies. 🙂

December 13, 2012
- Two Chums #
  
  Thank you for sharing the recipe Leah! This is my new FAVORITE cookie!!! xo
  
  December 13, 2012