Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Orange-Cardamom Sugar Cookies





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The cardamom in these lovely tea cookies convinced me they could fairly be included in the series of recipes I'm highlighting to celebrate the feast of St. Lucia. While the cookie is not a Scandinavian heirloom, it reflects Scandinavian sensibilities and would fit right in with the other confections found on a Swedish holiday table. These sugar cookies have crisp brown edges and soft chewy centers and the combination makes a perfect treat to serve with coffee or tea. I made a couple of small changes to the original recipe which can be found here. I used more cardamom and less orange zest than the developer suggested. I didn't want the oil in the orange zest to completely overwhelm the taste of cardamom, so I altered the recipe to personal taste. My changes are highlighted in red below. I also used freshly ground cardamom because I had the pods on hand for my holiday baking. This is a lovely, not too sweet, sugar cookie. It has the added advantage of being very easy to make, but because the dough must be chilled twice before it can be baked, additional time must be factored into your baking plan. I think those of you who try the recipe will be very pleased with the results. Here's how the cookies are made.

Orange-Cardamom Sugar Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of drbabs and Food52

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used 1-1/4 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom)
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 yolk of large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one medium orange (I used 1 teaspoon orange zest)

Directions:
1) Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom and set aside.
2) In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar together till just combined, about 30 seconds. Add egg and egg yolk; mix lightly  to combine. Mix in vanilla extract and orange zest.
3) Add dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing just until combined, about 30-45 seconds. Chill dough until it can be shaped, about 30 minutes.
4) Scoop dough with a tablespoon and roll into balls. Place evenly on cookie sheets and flatten slightly with back of a spatula. (If dough is still very soft, it may be easier to do this after dough is chilled.)
5) Place cookie sheets in refrigerator and chill dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If you're baking one sheet at a time, place oven rack in center of oven. If you want to bake two sheets at one time, place racks so that oven is divided into thirds. Bake for 5 minutes. Reverse cookie sheets front to back (and switch shelves if you're using 2 shelves). Bake for 5-7 more minutes until cookies are brown on edges and still soft in the center. Place cookie sheet(s) on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cookies with spatula and place them on wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 30 cookies.







One Year Ago Today: St. Lucia Crown - A Special Bread for the Feast of St. Lucia














Two Years Ago Today: Holiday Breakfast Round-Up















Three Years Ago Today: Kris Kringle Ginger Cake and the Baby Jesus Birthday Cake

19 comments :

Buttercup said...

This sounds wonderful. I need a quiet, snowy afternoon for baking and then a cup of tea and these cookies.

Priya Suresh said...

Attractive cookies, can munch it anytime.

Diane said...

Book marked this one, it looks delicious. Take care Diane

Martha said...

These sound lovely -- I always enjoy trying new Christmas cookies and the cardamon makes them a bit different.

Cranberry Morning said...

I'm with Buttercup! Sounds delicious and I was thinking nearly the same thing - snowy afternoon, sitting beside the fire, coffee and those cardamom cookies! I had to Google those pods to see what they looked like. :-)

Love2cook Malaysia said...

Crunchy looking cookies...irresistible! :)

Kim said...

Love the combination of orange and cardamom. Love these cookies!

Daniela Grimburg said...

Mary, these cookies look stunning!
Orange and cardamom make a great combination.

Joanne said...

What a fun way to add flavor to the traditional sugar cookie!

KimH said...

Yum... these sound divine!! Cant wait to try them!

Ginny Hartzler said...

This looks and sounds wonderful, and looks crispy around the edges, yum!

JG said...

Soft chewy centers, yum! Cookies with cardamom are always delicious.

~Judy

David said...

Mary, Great looking cookies! We've never cooked much of anything with cardamom so thanks for this recipe... Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Kim said...

I am crazy about cardamom. No doubt these cookies are delicious! I hope you are enjoying the season.

QembarDelites said...

I like the look of these cookies, so perfectly uniform in size and golden!

Ellen Whyte said...

Yummy! Mary, I'll be emailing you with a request for a roast turkey recipe. Meow!

Sokehah cheah said...

I'm intrigued by the name...would love to try out. Thanks for sharing!

Chaya said...

Each time I visit, I am in awe of your beautiful photos. Food comes alive here. Thanks Mary.

tender b. said...

Orange and cardamom? I'm intrigued.

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