In my world, if there is one little thing that can bring a smile to anyone's face, it will be homemade cookies. Sometimes with chocolate chips hidden in it and sometimes, without any surprising element. Just plain, buttery and delicious with lots of flavor! I think it helps keeping the child inside us alive and that is why, we all love cookies any time.
As a kid, whenever I used to watch movies where moms were shown baking cookies or cupcakes, I used to wonder why take all this trouble when there are so many options available in the market. Little did I know about the fun and satisfaction of baking.. Having said that, baking is not a very easy practice in my kitchen; lots of disasters and wastage happens in the process. It's either the ratio or the baking time that always goes wrong, resulting in a hard non-edible stone like object.. phew!
I am still learning the chemistry and art of baking. Cake is easy for me, cookies - not so much!
So the other day, with lots of courage, I decided to bake some cookies. My mantra was to keep it plain, simple, add lots of butter and keep my fingers crossed.
Inspired by the compound butter, I decided to flavor it with some crushed cardamom, a pinch of saffron and citrus.
I kept peeking in the oven non-stop. After about 15 minutes, they came out nicely baked. At the first touch, it didn't feel like a stone. I waited for a while to let it cool and then took a big bite, right in the center. They were chewy, soft and not so overly sweet. Loved the flavor! The cookies came out exactly the way I wanted it. No wastage happened this time. Best of all, Arvind approved it and he is still enjoying it.
Citrus and Saffron Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter (softened at room temperature)
- a pinch of saffron
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon crushed cardamom
- juice of half lemon
- zest of half lemon
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup semolina
- ½ cup chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a tiny bowl, mix the saffron with milk and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Mix the butter, lemon juice, zest, salt and sugar in a separate bowl. Now, add the milk-saffron mixture to the bowl along with crushed cardamom and whisk until its smooth.
- In another bowl, mix rest of the dry ingredients.
- Pour all the dry ingredients in the butter mixture and knead it to form a nice sticky dough.
- Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F .
- Make tiny balls with the dough and press it slightly to form a flat shape .
- Bake it for about 15 minutes or until it pale white in color and forms slight cracks on top.
Nutrition
healthfulpursuit
Wow, I wish cake was easier for me than cookies. I can make cookies any day, but my cakes normally turn out goopey, flat, or hard.
Matt @ RecipeLion
This recipe looks great! I would love it if you linked up this post to my blog hop for a chance to win a cookbook prize package: http://ow.ly/aj76a
jeyashrisuresh
beautifully done and clicked
Deeps @ Naughty Curry
saffron and cardmom, wow must have been one hell of a cookie!
Sylvia@bascooking
I love to bake, but sometimes I made my own disasters in the kitchen:).I loved the addition of cardamom, probably gave a special hint
nisha
oh so buttery n divine they look. even i suck at making cookies n my husband actually prefers the betty crocker mix to home made one, so you can imagine how pathetic i actually am 🙂
Shruti
love that you used chickpea flour & saffron in these cookies. as for baking cookies i'm yet to try that
Pia
love the styling on this one - stunning photographs, kankana. and it's something to bake with my daughter today!
Jennifer (Delicieux)
Absolutely gorgeous cookies and beautiful photos! You are making me want to go and bake some cookies now. I'm inspired by your use of chickpea flour in these cookies too.
Sublime Palate
That looks so yum!! Wish I could get my hands on some right now..
Nandita
Loved the recipe and the presentation!!! Just beautiful 🙂
Kulsum
so pretty! I love the flour pic. This beautiful cookies remind me of a white chocolate and saffron cookie I made a while back sitting in my drafts 🙂
Spandana
Delicious cookies.. love the flavors!!!!!And beautiful pics!
Rosa
Wonderful cookies! That flavor combination is great.
Cheers,
Rosa
Reem | Simply Reem
Cookies are my weakness, I avoid making them as I end up overloading myself with them...
Anyways these look really awesome...
I love the pics as usual, specially the one with flours... Beautiful compassion Kankana!!
Vimitha
Beautiful clicks as usual and nice flavorful cookies dear
Grishma @zabardast
Lovely flavors with beautiful pictures!
Ambika
These cookies are so beautiful Kankana!! I also love to use chickpea flour in cookies, it has such a nice nutty taste!!
Raji
Aahh..these are my type of cookies...slightly sweet with cardamom...mmm..sounds just like heaven to me. Gorgeous clicks. Hugs.
Sara{OneTribeGourmet}
Kankana dahling you always manage to make my mouth water with your delicious recipes! Citrus & Saffron are a perfect pair in these cookies!