Spiced butter cookies infused with freshly ground cardamom seeds, cinnamon and coffee to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates. European butter is a natural flavor enhancer and brings out the warmth of the spices. It gives a melt in the mouth texture to the cookies that can only be achieved when using one of the best dairy and natural butter such as French butter.
Spiced Butter Cookies Infused with Freshly Ground Cardamom Seeds
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- Ingredients
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BY YASMINE IDRISS
Spiced butter cookies infused with freshly ground cardamom seeds, cinnamon and coffee to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates. European butter is a natural flavor enhancer and brings out the warmth of the spices. It gives a melt in the mouth texture to the cookies that can only be achieved when using one of the best dairy and natural butter such as French butter.
Ingredients
Spiced cookies
- 250 gr plain flour
- 6 cardamom pods, de-seeded
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp arabic coffee (rough grind)
- 125 gr golden caster sugar
- 125 gr French butter, cold and cubed
- 1 large egg
Royal icing recipe
- 250 gr icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
- 6 g powdered egg white or meringue powder (mixed with water, as per the instructions on the packet))
- Red, green, black food coloring
- Edible gold leaf
- Piping bags (or small ziplock bags
Method
- 1)
Preheat oven at 180C
- 2)
Place the spices and the coffee in a pestle and mortar and grind until powdered.
- 3)
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and the spices before adding the butter.
- 4)
Gently rub the butter with the dry ingredients until the mixture becomes like sand. The technique is called sablage, from the word sable, or sand, in French.
- 5)
Add the egg, mix it gently into the flour mixture using your finger tips before gently kneading it and bringing it together to form a disc.
- 6)
Roll it on a lightly floured surface, into a thickness of about 6mm to 1cm.
- 7)
You can roll it in between 2 baking papers, and you can use guides to help you get a uniform thickness.
- 8)
Cut out using round circular cookie cutters. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 20min or until lightly golden.
- 9)
Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
Icing recipe
- 1)
In a grease free bowl of a stand alone or hand held mixer, place the sifted sugar, lemon juice and half the reconstituted egg white liquid.
- 2)
Start whisking on very slow until well combined.
- 3)
Only add more egg whites if the mixture looks too dry. If it looks too runny add more icing sugar.
- 4)
Whisk on the lowest speed (as we don’t want bubbles) for 4-5 minutes until thick and glossy.
- 5)
We want stiff peaks at this stage.
- 6)
Transfer to 4 little bowls and keep them covered with cling film and a damp kitchen towel to avoid them drying.
- 7)
Using the tip of a knife, mix in the food coloring, one drop at a time, before adding one water (also one drop at a time) to reach the right consistency.
- 8)
It should feel like toothpaste!
- 9)
Transfer to the piping bags and keep them sealed until ready to use.
Assembling
- 1)
When the cookies are completely cooled, still on a wire rack, place a baking sheet under them to hold any drips (it will get messy!) and start decorating the cookies.
- 2)
Wait a bit in for each color to dry before adding the next so they bleed into each other.
- 3)
Decorate with a tiny gold leaf to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates!