Hairy Bikers cardamom cookies recipe

The Hairy Bikers cardamom cookies are gently spiced and are easy to make with kids if you need a cheap activity to do at home.

Once you’ve mastered our easy chocolate chip cookies, try these lightly spiced cookies from the Hairy Bikers.

Si and Dave say: “We discovered that cardamom is a really popular spice in Norway, used in many cake and biscuit recipes. Some say the spice was first brought back to the country hundreds of years ago by Vikings who worked as mercenaries in what was now Istanbul.”

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. Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan, Gas 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.

Top tips for making the Hairy Bikers cardamom cookies:

The stamps add a really simple and effective bit of decoration but don’t worry if you can’t get hold of any. They will still taste great! You could also make them using a biscuit press. Si and Dave explain: “They’ll be about half the size, so cook them for 10-12 minutes instead.”

Jessica Ransom

“If you don’t have any cookie stamps but still want to add a little design to the top, I would dip a fork in a little flour and gently press the fronds all the way around the edge of each cookie to press a little line pattern.”

The Hairy Bikers' Big Book of Baking by Hairy Bikers (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £10) - View at Amazon 

Si and Dave travelled all over Europe and have put together some of the tastiest recipes from their travels. There’s a collection of sweet and savoury bakes including some easy breads, pastries and cakes.

We have lots more Hairy Bikers recipes for you to explore but if you need more sweet inspiration, try our sugar cookies recipe. These vanilla cookies are also tasty and easy to make.