Medieval Cookies of Joy

How could I resist a cookie with a name like "Cookies of Joy?" 

I found this medieval cookie recipe in an article by Atlas Obscura. I made a few small changes, but here is the original article for you to enjoy. The history of this recipe is very interesting. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-cookie-recipe 

This recipe made 4 dozen small cookies. 

12 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup raw honey
4 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves

Melt the butter. In a mixing bowl, mix the honey, brown sugar and egg yolks. Add the salt & spices to the honey mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat well. When it's homogenous, scrape from the bowl sides to ensure all ingredients are mixed in. Then slowly add the flour. Continue mixing on slow speed until completely incorporated. 

The dough will be sticky and wet. Scrape into a smaller bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

*****************************************************************

Heat over to 375*F

Try either method:

1. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut circles with a cookie cutter.

or

2. Using a small scoop, make balls of dough and flatten with a glass. 

Bake on parchment paper for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. 

Cool completely and then dust with powdered sugar. Store in sealed container. 

Adding melted butter to honey/sugar/spice mixture. 

Adding Spelt flour, an ancient grain. 

The dough is the consistency of fresh taffy, very soft.

Batter poured and scraped into a clean bowl, to go into the fridge. 

Scooped balls of cold dough and flattened with 

a glass and parchment paper, 1/4 inch thick

Baked 10 minutes at 375*

I thought they tasted a bit dark and needed a bit more sweetness. 

So, I dusted them with powdered sugar. 

Another idea would be to sprinkled the dough with sugar before baking. 

It added a little pleasant crunch too. 

I didn't know what to expect from this recipe. It sounded intriguing. 

The taste is reminiscent of gingerbread, but not quite. It's darker, less sweet. 

May your heart be filled with Joy!  

Chinese Almond Cookies

 If you like Marzipan, you'll LOVE these cookies! 

These are great for Chinese New Year! 

****** Parchment Paper *****

• 1 1/3 cups almond flour, lightly packed

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

• Pinch of salt

• 2 large eggs, divided (one is beaten for egg wash)

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• Thinly sliced almonds, for decoration

• Recipe makes 5-6 dozen cookies.
  

• ***********************************************

• In your mixer, 

  Mix together the butter cubes, almond flour, and salt until mixed well. 
  
• Add  in one of the eggs and the almond extract.  Mix well.
• In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, sugar and baking soda. 
• Slowly add to your mixer, thoroughly incorporating. When the dough is complete, remove from the mixer, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten. Chill the dough at least two hours, overnight is good too. 
• Preheat your oven to 325*F. 
• Roll out balls of dough and flatter to about an inch across. Add an almond slice to the top of each. Brush with egg wash. 
• Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until gently browned on the edges. 
• Cool on the counter or a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.  

Start with Almond Flour

Mix together the butter cubes, almond flour, and salt until mixed well. 

Mix in just ONE of the eggs and....

...The almond extract. 

In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, sugar and baking soda. 

Add flour mixture to your butter mixture. Mix until thoroughly homogenous. 

Remove dough from your mixer and wrap in plastic wrap. 

Flatten the dough and chill in the fridge for at least two hours. 

Overnight would be fine, too.

Baking Time:

You know I love my small scoop for making uniform sized cookies. 

Leave space between. 

You can use your hand or a glass with parchment paper to flatten the cookies a bit. 

An inch or so across. Not too thin. 

Decorate the top of each cookie with a nice almond slice. 

Beat the second egg. 

Brush the top of each cookie with a bit of beaten egg. 

This will give the cookies a nice shiny finish when baked. 

Bake at 325* for 13-15 minutes, or until just lightly browned. 

Cool before removing from parchment. 

Very tasty! A special treat for Chinese New Year! 

Cardamom Cookies

I really like Cardamom and I went looking for cookies I could make with it. I found these and they are very unique in the world of cookies. 

This recipe made 5 dozen cookies using my small scoop.

*************** Parchment Paper lined cookie sheet *************

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups flour

16oz. butter, room temperature

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

(+ extra cardamom and powdered sugar for dusting)

****************************************

Preheat oven to 350*F

In your mixer, beat the butter and spices until well mixed and fluffy. Add egg, mix again. Add sugar and beat until thoroughly mixed, stopping to scrape down the bowl sides if it's not mixing completely. Lastly, add the flour, on lowest speed, a little bit at a time, to avoid throwing it out onto the counter and you. It will be a dense dough, go slowly. Stop mixer and scrape down sides again as needed. 

Once your dough is homogenous, roll out rounded tablespoons full into balls, or use your small scoop. Leave about 2 inches between them.  Once they are onto your parchment lined cookie sheet, flatten them with a glass to about 2 inches wide. If you use a small piece of parchment under your glass, you won't have any trouble with sticking. 

Bake at 350* for 13-15 minutes. They will be lightly browned. Allow them to cool completely on the parchment paper, which you can pull off your cookie sheet onto the counter. Once they are cool, give them a dusting with a mixture of powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Keep them wrapped and in the fridge and they will last a long time for snacking. 

I didn't want to crowd them, so only one dozen on the tray. 

I use a glass with parchment paper to flatten them to about 2 inches across.

Still plenty of space between. They will continue to spread out. 

Browned but not too browned. 

A light dusting of cardamom and powdered sugar. 

Don't they look delicious? They truly are!