Cardamom Snaps Food

SHARI'S EXTRA-SPICY GINGERSNAPS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg., Combine the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, mustard, white pepper, cardamom, cayenne, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in crystallized ginger. Cover and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours or until easy to handle., Shape dough into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar. Place 3 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

PISTACHIO, CARDAMOM AND SAFFRON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a multi-cavity cookie tray (e.g. mini muffin tray, a muffin-top tray or a hemisphere pan) with the 1 tablespoon butter and set aside to chill.
• Combine the warm milk with the saffron threads, stir and set aside for 5 minutes until the saffron threads begin to bloom and the milk takes on a golden hue.
• Cream the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until the butter is soft and the sugar has melted in. Add the crushed cardamom pods, finely chopped pistachios, the saffron milk with the saffron threads and a pinch of grated nutmeg if using and the pandanus water. Mix until well combined. Slowly add in the all-purpose flour and salt and mix well again. The mixture will be sandy in texture. Use a spatula to break up any lumps and stir it all until well combined and there are no dry spots.
• Portion the cookie mixture using an ice cream scoop and scoop it directly into the prepared chilled cookie tray. Lightly compress the mixture into the cavity using the back of a spoon. Fill each cavity to the top as these cookies will not rise. Chill any unused cookie mixture between bakes.
• Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges begin to lightly brown. The cookies do not change color or rise during baking. Carefully unmold from the cookie tray. Place them on a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight container in a cool place until ready to decorate.
• To decorate: Arrange the cookies on a wire rack with a drip pan or cookie sheet underneath.
• Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Place the melting white chocolate wafers in a heatproof bowl over the simmering water. The bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Maintain a slow simmer and do not let the water boil. Using a silicone spatula, stir until the chocolate is melted. Quickly stir in one pinch of saffron threads while the chocolate is warm.
• Carefully pour the white chocolate over the cookies or dunk cookies into the chocolate. Alternatively, use a spoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over each cookie. Sprinkle the pistachio slivers, gold dust or sprinkles and more saffron threads before the chocolate hardens. Cool completely.
• Serve when the chocolate is firm.
• Store in a cool, airtight container for up to a week.

CARDAMOM SNAPS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375F.
• 2. In a mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, baking soda, 1-1/2 teaspoons of the cardamom, and the cinnamon. Beat on medium to high speed until combined.
• 3. Beat in molasses and egg. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour.
• 4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in mixture of granulated sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cardamom to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• 5. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are slightly cracked.
• 6. Cool on wire rack.

GINGER SNAPS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, clove and salt. Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the crystallized ginger and using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined. With a 2-teaspoon sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies or 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough. Store in an airtight container for up 10 days. If desired, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above.

SWEDISH CARDAMOM BUNS

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, bring the milk to 105 to 110 degrees. Remove it from the heat and pour it into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top, give it a quick whisk and let it rest a few minutes to dissolve and activate. If the yeast looks like it's clumping, whisk it gently.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, butter, cardamom, salt and the yeasted milk. Mix on the lowest setting until just combined and beginning to form a dough, 1 to 2 minutes. Continue on low to knead dough, about 2 minutes. It should go from shaggy and coarse to smooth and shiny. Working inside the bowl, give the dough a couple more kneads by hand to bring it together. You can also knead the dough entirely by hand on a work surface. (It'll take 8 minutes or so.)
• Line a 9-by-13-inch quarter sheet pan with parchment paper and dump the kneaded dough out onto it. Using your hands, pat and shape the dough into a large rectangular block. Make 4 or 5 shallow, 1/4-inch-deep slashes in the dough with a knife. Cover the baking sheet with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and transfer the dough to the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
• Make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, cardamom and salt on low speed just to form a granular paste. (It should resemble marzipan.) Don't overbeat it: You don't want it to be too soft or get fluffy. You can also do this by hand in a bowl, combining the ingredients with a spatula or bench scraper.
• Line two 13-by-18-inch baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator - it will have risen, but don't be surprised if the rise isn't significant - and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes so it's not so stiff that you can't roll it out. Place the dough on a thick silicone mat or a very lightly floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll it out to a roughly 15-by-18-inch rectangle a little more than 1/8-inch thick, with the shorter side facing you. As you roll it in both directions, pause occasionally between rolls to relax the dough by patting it, lifting it and pulling it to straighten out any ripples.
• Dot the surface of the dough with mounds of the filling. Using an offset spatula, gently spread the filling all over the surface of the dough.
• With the short side of the dough facing you, fold the top third of the dough down over the middle third of the dough, then fold the bottom third up to cover the remaining dough.
• Go over the dough with the rolling pin a couple of times, vertically, to flatten the edges, and stretch it a few more inches before cutting and shaping. You want a 12-by-16-inch rectangle (the longer side will be facing you). If any filling oozes out, use your offset spatula to remove it so your workstation doesn't get sticky.
• Using the straight edge of a ruler and a pastry cutter (or very gently using a small, sharp knife), trim any uneven edges. Cut the dough vertically into 16 1-by-12-inch-long strips. Starting from the end, gently wrap one strip around the tips of your index, middle and fourth finger (or just the index and middle if you've got strong hands), like a bandage, two or three times, letting the dough overlap and working cautiously so it doesn't tear. Place your thumb on top of the wrapped dough, on the side closer to your wrist, to secure the shape, then loop the remaining end of the strand over and through the center of the bun, tucking it under at the base of the bun. You should have a rounded bun made out of bandage-like strips. The knotted part will be unexposed, hidden at the bottom.
• Place each bun on the prepared baking sheets as you go, patting it down for a flatter shape. Space the buns evenly (you can eyeball it). Leave them to proof at room temperature, uncovered, for about 1 hour. They should expand and soften.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Finish the buns: In a small bowl, using a fork or whisk, beat the egg together with 1 tablespoon water until well combined and frothy.
• Grind the cardamom pods in a spice grinder, making sure you break down the tough outer husks. Transfer the ground spice to a small bowl and whisk it together with the sugar.
• Lightly brush each bun with the egg wash, and generously sprinkle the tops of the buns with the cardamom sugar, using about 1/2 teaspoon per bun.
• Bake for 8 minutes, then lower temperature to 375 degrees, rotate trays completely (180 degrees and top to bottom, bottom to top) and continue baking for an additional 12 minutes. The surface of the buns should be golden brown. (Some butter may seep out of the buns and pool - that's normal - but if you're worried that it will burn on the trays, cover the buns with parchment paper toward the end of baking, once they've reached the desired color.)
• Let the buns cool for 10 minutes before eating, so the spiced, sweet buttery goo that pools around their edges can harden into crispy candylike edges, or let them cool entirely.

CARDAMOM BUTTER CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, add the flour, cardamom and salt, and whisk to combine.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on low speed until just combined. Add egg whites, beat until just combined, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
• Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece out into a log 3/4-inch thick. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut 3-inch pieces off the log. Working with one 3-inch piece at a time, gently roll both ends so they taper slightly, then form into a crescent. Transfer to prepared baking sheet; repeat with remaining dough, placing the crescents 1-inch apart.
• Gently press 1 almond slice into each cookie. Bake until light golden brown, 10 to 14 minutes. Cool, then dust with confectioners' sugar.