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
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
Any excuse to use a little saffron is good with me!
Simone
I am really no cookie baking expert. In fact; they scare me a little as they always seem to come out wrong! Yours look so pretty. Maybe I should just be brave enough to try again...
Padhu
Yummy cookies and lovely pictures!
Charles
I totally agree - store-bought cookies can never beat a good batch of home-made cookies - these looks gorgeous 🙂
Notyet100
Cookies look so good,...luv the presentation too,.
Saguna
These look so perfect- flavours sound so good together. They remind me of jeera biscuits! Which, by the way, I am in need of! Do you know of a good recipe for them?
Maureen (OrgasmicChe
I love your photos - really impressed by your work.
These cookies look so cute. I can't wait to try them.
renu
Very tempting recipe and wonderful clicks ! just wondering, every time I use lemon or orange juice in my recipe, it imparts bitter taste. Have you ever experienced it ?
Sandra's Easy Cookin
Those look and sound like a perfect cookie! Yes, you are right, nothing better than homemade cookies for kids but for adults too! Thank you for sharing sweetie!
Shabs
Ooooh , that is one delicious looking cookie , can't believe you have baking disasters , actually I could never get a simple cookie right but now it's too easy , your flavour combinations are just Super !!! 🙂 .
Ira Rodrigues
Since i have sunflower saffron, i might give your recipe a try. the cookies looks yummy!
Pencil Kitchen
I've never used saffron before.. btw, I fail cookies a lot too... I don't get how Cookies are the easiest thing to bake... It is not! I've got to give this a try! Any tips?
Athena
I'd never guess that baking disasters occur in your kitchen. These look fantastic. I'm craving cookies now!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
Yum! I love the combo of flours used in this recipe. Bet it contributes to a great cookie texture.
Tina (PinayInTexas)
saffron and cardamom...wow! I can imagine how good those cookies are!
Priya
Nice clicks and the cookies luks so delicious
Kiri W.
Yum! I love saffron for baking, these sound delicious 🙂
thyme (Sarah)
I just used cardamom to flavor an Easter bread. I now LOVE cardamom. I'll bet it tastes wonderful in those cute little cookies.
Yadsia @ShopCookMake
Baking is still a mystery to me. I never seem to bake the perfect cake, and let alone cookies. The day that I make cookies as pretty as yours, I'd be happy!
Krithi
Chick pea flour, semolina?? Wow...you rock! great combo... would love to try this dear..