Cardamom and almond cookies

August 26, 2009  •  Category:

 

Our August Challenge is here – Representing the Iraqi Cuisine


Iraq for me is a word that elicits simultaneously happiness and sadness. I was extremely lucky to visit Iraq  in the early seventies with my family. My dad’s close friend lived in Baghdad. He had a  beautiful rose garden. I loved eating masgoof by the Tigris.  We  toured the famous marshlands.  This is the  area  where the Tigris and the Euphrates meet and where the first man is said to have been born.   Unspoiled, it was  known as the cradle of civilization; its  people lived a  lifestyle that had not changed since the  early  Sumerians a few thousand years before. Marsh Arabs lived on the marshes  and slept in beautiful homes weaved out of reed in intricate designs. We slept in a reed house and toured the area in a gondola, watching around us water buffaloes and wild colorful birds everywhere. At night, we were offered a feast by the zaim of the village, including huge platters of jeweled rice and roasted wild ducks captured that day in our honor. What an amazing, otherworldly  place that was.

We also visited Samarra with its incredible Great Mosque and I remember looking out in the distance and seeing the shimmering domes of other mosques and feeling that I lived back in the times of the Abbassid Caliphates.

These memories of Iraq  I will always carry with me.  I am  reminded of Agatha Christie who lived in Iraq with her husband, the  archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. Listen to what she says in her memoirs (she is talking about a driver in Kerbala, Iraq ) ” …The driver,the soul of politeness and delicacy, as indeed all Arabs are, moved away. And later in the book , recounting their friends: …” Warm-hearted, simple, full of enjoyment of life, and so well able to laugh at everything. Arabs are great ones for laughing, and great ones for hospitality too….How much I have loved that part of the world. I love it still and always shall.“Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, Berkley Books, New York, 1977.

Now, back to the job at hand:  For these cookies, I decided to incorporate my home-version of sablés, which consists of adding to the dough a good quantity of homemade almond meal. It is optional, but I like it because it adds crunch to the cookies as well as  depth of flavor (from the toasted almonds) These cookies are great because they taste delicious (that wonderful cardamom and almond flavor) and are barely sweet.  The whole-wheat flour gives then more body and cuts the sweetness, making them  perfect  for a  tea break.

INGREDIENTS: This quantity will yield 100 cookies

3 sticks unsalted butter ( 12 ounces or 350g. )

1 egg, size large

3/4 cup white sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used 1 cup whole wheat organic flour)

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of ground cardamom

1 1/2 cups toasted and ground almonds (optional step)

A handful of whole almonds, as a garnish on the cookies

METHOD:

  1. Let the butter soften at room temperature for one hour or so.
  2. In a large bowl, measure the flours and the teaspoon of ground cardamom. Add the pinch of salt and whisk the mixture to blend it all well.
  3. Drop the butter in the bowl of a food processor and process for a few minutes until it gets whitish and smooth. Add the sugar and process a few seconds more.
  4. Add to the processor bowl all the ground almonds and the egg. Process for a few seconds until it is mixed very well.
  5. Add the flour mixture in three batches, pulsing the processor every few seconds till mixed in.
  6. When the dough starts to hold together, shut down the processor and gather the ball of dough. Place it on a plastic or wax paper or piece of foil. Let it rest in the refrigerator for about one hour.
  7. When ready, prepare the work surface by keeping three cookie sheets nearby; cover them each with parchment paper.
  8. Roll the dough, one third at a time, between two sheets of either parchment or wax paper. This step makes it a lot easier because the dough is rich and moist. Roll and cut with the cookie cutter of your choice. You can also cut the dough into thirds and shape each third into a sausage shape, cover it in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. Then cut into thin slices.
  9. Insert one-half almond into each cookie.
  10. Place the cookies into the parchment-lined baking sheets and bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or so until the cookies are golden around the edges.
  11. Cool for a few minutes and serve. These cookies will keep for 10 days at room temperature or can be easily frozen for a few weeks.

TO MAKE THE ALMOND MEAL:

  • Take one pound of almonds. Drop in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain.
  • Peel the almonds and spread them on a cookie sheet for 2 hours or more at room temperature so that they dry out.
  • Heat the oven at medium heat (300F) and toast the almonds for 15 minutes or more until they are golden-brown in color and fragrant.
  • Cool the almonds and when they are perfectly cool, drop them in batches into either a food processor or a coffee grinder, adding a teaspoon of white granulated sugar with each batch.
  • Process for a few seconds until the almonds turn into a coarse powder.
  • Keep in a jar in the freezer as needed. Use about 1 1/2 cup for this recipe, adding it with the dough.

img_6510img_6512img_6511img_6516img_6518_mg_6625

_mg_6666

Comments

11 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Reply

    History of Greek Food says:

    Lovely, really lovely!

    On August 27, 2009 at 6:52 am

  2. Reply

    Arlette says:

    Marhaba Joumana
    Gorgeous looking Cardamom Cookies…
    Nice introduction and good story about the old time in Iraq …

    I also added ground almond in the dough, but didnt add on top as i made them circles and the almond were falling down after baking so I took them off…
    the flavour is very good.
    Thanks so much for sharing.

    On August 27, 2009 at 9:46 pm

  3. Reply

    Sophie says:

    Your cardamom cookies look awesomely delicious!!

    I almost love cardamom in anything! Yummie!

    On August 28, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    • Reply

      Joumana says:

      Sophie,
      Thanks, I actually am having a hard time eating just one or two! but I console myself by thinking that they are healthy too!

      On August 28, 2009 at 6:37 pm

  4. Reply

    jouhayna says:

    hi joumana
    happy and blessed ramadan to you and all your family

    good work your cookies are so beautiful
    i like your introduction: iraq i a beautiful land
    and we all feel sorry about it’s present situation
    I see what you mean about feeling of sadness even though i’ve never being there.
    good night

    On August 29, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    • Reply

      Joumana says:

      Hi Jouhayna
      Thanks so much for your kindness. I pray that Iraq comes back to normal , inchallah soon! Ramadan mubarak to you and your family.

      On August 29, 2009 at 10:12 pm

  5. Reply

    Loren says:

    One critical question: when you develop a formula, do you work in grams and then convert to volume and ounces, or do you convert into grams.

    Thank you so much,

    Hagar the Horrible

    On May 16, 2011 at 1:40 pm

  6. Reply

    Michel Bonnet says:

    Hello Arlette,
    Thank you for this Shakar Lama recipe. I have been looking for that for ages.
    Question: At what temperature do I set the oven? 180ºC? for the 15 minutes to be correct?
    Thank you for your help.
    Michel.

    On December 5, 2017 at 9:12 am

Add a Comment