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- Photo: Gudlyf / Flickr
These cardamom butter cookies are Persian in origin. They are quite delicate as they are made from rice flour. Other ingredients include butter, icing sugar, egg yolk, ground cardamom seeds, chopped pistachios and a pinch of salt. The pistachios are sprinkled over the top of the cookies in order to decorate them. You will need about five green cardamom pods to obtain the required teaspoon of freshly ground cardamom. A pestle and mortar will make your job easier.
Preparation
Measure out the following ingredients to make about 35 small round cardamom butter cookies: half a pound of unsalted butter (melted), 1 cup of sifted icing sugar, 1 large egg yolk (at room temperature), 1 teaspoon of freshly ground cardamom seeds and 2 cups of rice flour.
You will also need a pinch of salt if you’re using unsalted butter but you can leave this out if you’re using salted butter. Allow for two to three level tablespoons of chopped pistachios for decorative purposes.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place two oven racks into the oven so that one is above the centre and the other is below the centre. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with lightly buttered wax paper.
Prepare the dough
Place the icing sugar and the butter into a mixing bowl and beat well. When the mixture becomes pale in colour, add the egg yolk and ground cardamom seeds. Mix in the salt and the flour. The flour should be mixed in slowly by adding half a cup at a time.
When the dough is stiff, turn it out onto a lightly dusted working surface (use rice flour for the dusting). Knead the dough for several minutes until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Wrap in cling film once the dough is soft and smooth. Rest it in the fridge for two hours or overnight.
Prepare the cardamom butter cookies
Divide the dough into four equal sections. Lightly knead one piece while leaving the others in the fridge (covered). Roll the dough into small balls, a generous teaspoon-full at a time. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the balls out a little, allowing for an inch of space between them.
Decorate the top by lightly pressing a fork into the dough and sprinkling with pistachios. Follow the same procedure with the rest of the dough.
Bake
Bake the cookies for a quarter of an hour before switching and rotating the baking sheets. Bake for a further ten minutes or until such time as the cookies are starting to brown a little on the bottom. Use a wide spatula to carefully remove them from the baking sheets when they are ready.
Place the biscuits onto a wire rack to cool. You do have to handle them with care as they are still very fragile when they have just come out of the oven. Allow the biscuits to cool before storing in an airtight container.
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