Danish Christmas Cardamom Cookie Recipe

 I like how the holiday season allows me to combine two of my very favorite things:

1. Baking sweets and making candy I can give away and not be tempted to eat (too much. However, I reserve the right to sample for quality assurance of course!) 


2. Sharing my Danish heritage with my family and friends.

Cardamom shows up in a lot of Danish baking. Cardamom is a savory member of the ginger family and whenever I use it in a recipe, the food disappears quickly!

I always get repeat requests when I bring a batch of Danish cookies to a holiday party. Let's make some!

Danish Cardamom Cookie Recipe

  Pin this cookie recipe to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

Tip: Cardamom is one of the more expensive spices. Instead of paying $20 a bottle (yes you read that right) for cardamom, I buy cardamom from the bulk bin for $6 at my local yuppie health food store which is enough to fill one and a half empty spice bottles from - you guessed it! - that first expensive glass bottle of cardamom I bought.

You will need:

3/4 cup softened salted butter (or lactose free butter substitute)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cardamom
2 cups flour

1/2 cup ground almonds (if you don't have almonds or a nut allergy it is OK to leave them out)

Powdered sugar for topping

Whole almonds for garnish (or not)

Make it: 

1. Combine the butter, sugar, and cardamom in a bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy. (Fancy baker people call this process creaming.)

2. Thoroughly stir the flour into the butter mixture

3. Thoroughly stir the ground almonds into the cookie dough.

4. Roll approximately one tablespoon of dough into a ball for each cookie you want to make.

5. Roll/dredge the cookie dough ball in a bowl of powdered sugar until it is thoroughly coated with powdered sugar and place it on a cookie sheet or baking stone.

6. Dip the bottom of a drinking glass into the powdered sugar. Use the bottom of the sugar coated glass to flatten the dough balls into cookies.

7. Press an almond into the top of each cookie (or not.)

8. Bake the cardamom cookies for 15-20 minutes in a 375 degree (F) oven until they are golden brown.


9. Eat, enjoy, repeat!

What is your favorite Christmas cookie


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