Craig Claiborne's Cardamom Crisp Cookies

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely adult cookie is Maida Heatter's riff on Craig Claiborne's Cardamon Crisps. The recipe for the cookies  first appeared in his book, An Herb and Spice Cookbook, and she included it in her  book, The Brand-New Book of Great Cookies.  The cookies have an unusual taste and a unique texture that comes from the addition of cardamom and cream of tartar. Their texture is a bit like that of a ginger snap, but they taste more like the Dutch spice cookies called  speculaas. Maida  Heatter's recipe calls for grinding  fresh cardamom seeds. If you really enjoy European cookies, I hope you will try her recipe as it is written. The cookies are wonderfully fragrant when made with the freshly ground spice. Unfortunately, my life doesn't always afford me  time to grind the seeds, so I can assure you the recipe works well even if you use a commercial  spice powder.  The cookies should be rolled and cut, but I have found it faster and much easier  to form the dough into small 1-inch balls that can be  flattened directly on cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper. I use the palm of my hand or a cookie embosser  to flatten the balls to a thickness of  1/4-inch.  Baking time must be increased if you make your cookies any thicker thicker than that. The cookies are great keepers when stored in an  airtight container, but I suspect they'll be gone long before they can stale.  They are wonderful with afternoon coffee or tea,  but I love them with a cold glass of milk. I give myself permission to dunk, though I swear I can hear my mother's voice admonishing me whenever I do so. I was never a good listener. I hope you'll try these cookies. Here is Maida Heatter's recipe.

Craig Claiborne's Cardamom Crisp Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Craig Claiborne and Maida Heatter

Ingredients:
A few teaspoonfuls whole cardamom (to make 3/4 teaspoon ground)
2-1/4 cup sifted unbleached flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 packed cup light brown sugar
1 large egg

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or aluminum foil, shiny side up; set aside.
2) The cardamom pods may be green or bleached. The green will have a little more flavor than the bleached, but they're both good. To prepare them, work on a cutting board. With a sharp knife cut a few teaspoonfuls of the pods in half the long way. Then either shake the seeds (they will be black and/or gray) out of the shells, or, if necessary, use the point of a small knife to nudge them out. Discard the shells. Grind the seeds in an electric grinder; you could use a coffee grinder or a pepper mill (I use a Cuisinart Mini-Mate). Strain through a fine sieve. Measure 3/4 teaspoon; set aside.
3) Sift together the flour and cream of tartar; set aside.
4) In the small or large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until soft. Add the ground cardamom, baking soda, and salt; beat to mix. Beat in the sugar, then the egg. Finally, on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.
5) Flour a pastry cloth and a rolling pin. Work with half the dough at a time. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut with a round cookie cutter (I use a 2-inch round cutter). Place the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined sheets.
6) Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, reversing the sheet front to back once after 5 minutes. The cookies will rise and puff up during baking, and then they will begin to settle down a bit just when they are done. When done, they will be a light-golden honey color all over.
With a wide metal spatula transfer to racks to cool; when cool, store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

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