I Love Cardamom Cookies

Awhile back I bought a jar of cardamom seeds at a bargain price. These are hard and a bit larger than poppy seeds. I figured I'd have to grind before using and promptly forgot about it. Recently I found the jar and noticed a recipe on it that called for using the seeds whole. I vaguely remembered my Swedish "mom" (I was an exchange student in high school) made some sort of cardamom bread/roll at the holidays, and you could see the little pods. So I improvised this very easy cookie recipe. I was pleased with how they came out.

• 1/2 c hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed
• 1 c flour
• 2/3 c granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 stick (4 oz) butter, cold, cut into pieces
• 1 scant tablespoon cardamom seeds (maybe 1-2 tsp ground?)
• 1 egg

Toast the hazelnuts: bake them at 325°F for 5-10 minutes until skins darken. Wrap in a dish towel and rub together until most of skin is gone. Cool.

In a food processor, grind hazelnuts with sugar. Add flour, salt, and cardamom. Pulse. Cut butter into pieces, add and pulse until well combined. Slightly beat the egg and add while food processor is running. Pulse only until the dough comes together. Press dough into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Roll to about 1.5" diameter. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Unwrap log and slice into 1/4" rounds. Lay on ungreased cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Bake 12-18 minutes or until bottom edges start to turn golden (frozen dough, a light colored/ and/or insulated air-pan will take longer). Cool on pan about 5 minutes and transfer to rack to cool completely.

Makes about 40 cookies (2 pans). Next time I'll double it. In fact, next time I'm tempted to a) increase the hazelnuts, and b) add 1/4 cup cocoa (to 1 c flour) and see what happens.