Hairy Bikers cardamom cookies recipe

Hairy Bikers' cardamom cookies make for a perfect afternoon snack, both delicious and unique in flavour and texture. 

Si King and Dave Myers, aka The Hairy Bikers, are famous for their desserts. The two have have travelled around the world to find the best mixture of sweet and savoury flavours to bring to their recipes. And these cookies are no exception. These Mediterranean-inspired cookies feature a flavour that's a delightful mixture of eucalyptus, pepper and mint with the cardamom infusion. There's also a strong citrus edge from the lemon. While we've used floral cookie stamps in our creation, you can use whatever symbol you like - or leave them plain.

Ingredients

• 225g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 250g plain flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 3 tsp ground cardamom or 1 heaped tsp cardamom seeds, ground in a pestle and mortar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment.
2. Using an electric hand-whisk, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the flour, almonds and cardamom until the mixture is well combined and comes together to form a stiff dough.
3. Roll the dough into 24 balls and place 12 on each baking tray – make sure you leave space between each one. Press each cookie with a cookie stamp or the bottom of a glass to flatten and leave decorative indentations in the dough.
4. Bake a tray at a time for 12–14 minutes until the cookies are pale golden brown. Leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. They will crisp up as they cool. Store the cookies in an airtight tin and eat within 7 days.

Top tips for making Hairy Bikers' cardamom cookies:

Nutmeg and cinnamon are two other spices that also pair wonderfully well with cardamom, so don't be afraid to liven things up with this recipe if you're a fan of spice.

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