Friday, July 05, 2013

Orange Cardamom Cookies


Today's fragrant slice comes in the shape of tiny medallion shaped cookies.

My afternoon took on a sweet, slightly exotic feeling when I made a batch of Orange Cardamom Cookies from a recipe -- one of thirty -- found in the heart-warming memoir by Donia Bijan, Maman's Homesick Pie, A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen. "...through the prism of food, award-winning chef Donia Bijan unwinds her own story, finding that at the heart of it all is her mother, whose love and support enabled Bijan to realize her dreams." ~ excerpt from Amazon.ca

My taste buds were in heaven. With a burst of orange zest and just a hint of cardamom, these tiny bites went very well with a pot of black tea.

Orange Cardamom Cookies

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
grated zest of 2 oranges
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Beat butter till soft about two minutes, add sugar and blend well.
Add egg yolk and orange zest.
Combine flour, salt, cardamom and poppy seeds; fold in to batter.
Mix just enough to combine dough.
Form dough into 2 logs, wrap in parchment and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice logs into 1/2 inch thick rounds and place 1 inch apart on sheet.
(They didn't spread at all.)
 
Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until slightly golden around edges. Dough can be frozen 2-3 weeks and used later. Makes about 3 dozen.


Cookies. Tea. And this delightful book to finish reading. Contented sigh... I'm so grateful for this fragrant slice of life.

Sending hugs,
Brenda
xox






14 comments:

  1. Lovely to slow down to enjoy the fragrant slices of life and even to create some fragrant slices of life. Thanks for this recipe. It sounds like the perfect complement to the tea table.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vee,

      And what I really enjoyed about the recipe (besides it being so delicious), these cookies were so simple to make. Whipped them up in 5 minutes, let them chill, and soon they were in the oven.

      Delete
  2. These sound absolutely lovely! Cookies for grown-ups! I must try them. Thank you for publishing the recipe and for your excerpts from the book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tamara,

      I like how you described them...cookies for grown-ups. It's true.

      Delete
  3. Those are yummy looking cookies...I'm thinking English Breakfast tea to go with them :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think hubby brewed us a 'Yorkshire' blend -- it seemed a perfect pair.
      And the cookies are sublime.

      Delete
  4. Hello Brenda. Those sound very intriguing. Thanks for sharing. Susan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan, Lovely to hear from you! And yes, the cookies are lovely.

      Delete
  5. I almost want to go try baking some right now BUT it will be 102 degrees today where I live...maybe next winter-lol!

    ReplyDelete
  6. These sound so delicious. Just the thing to accompany a cup of tea.

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  7. These look very good. I will give them a try.

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  8. These look great! :)

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  9. A technical question: When I made these, I did as the recipe suggests and rolled the dough into 2 logs. After chilling, I cooked one. The cookies were good, but there was a harsh, butter aftertaste. (My son-in-law's agreed with me, but pointed out that you only notice it when you stop eating, so the solution was to keep eating....) BUT here's the mystery: the other log sat in the refrigerator for a week (more or less) and, when those were sliced and cooked, there was no harsh aftertaste. Something had dissipated, but.... what? Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete

To My Beautiful Readers,

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same. ~ Franz Peter Schubert

Thank you so much for leaving your 'footprint' here in my comment box. I do appreciate you taking a moment to share your thoughts today.

Brenda xo