Iraqi Cardamom Cookies (Hadgi Badah)
"Found this recipe while looking for an Iraqi chicken and potatoes dish requested in the NA/ME forum. (From chicken to cookies, yes my mind wanders.) Saw this and thought it would be a great addition to 'Zaar for all my cardamom loving friends. The original recipe is from "The World of Jewish Cooking." Posting for some future ZWT."
photo by Jonathan Melendez
- Ready In:
- 42mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
72
ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1⁄3 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups ground blanched almonds (about 10 oz.)
- rose water (optional) or orange blossom water (optional)
- 6 dozen whole almonds
directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheets with a light coating of cooking spray, oil or butter. (Looks like parchment paper would also work well with these cookies.).
- Sift together the flour, cardamom, salt, and baking powder.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until light and creamy. Stir in the flour mixture, then the ground almonds.
- Pinch off a small piece of dough and hand form into 1-inch balls, moistening your hands with rose water or orange blossom water, if desired. Place on the prepared baking sheets and flatten slightly. Press a whole almond into the center of each cookie.
- Bake until lightly browned about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
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Reviews
-
I can't get enough of these cookies. I love that they're not overly sweet and love the crunch from the almond on top. It's such a great recipe! -
Even after adding flour, this dough was too sticky to form the cookies by hand. However! I stashed the dough in the freezer for a few minutes, making it possible to hand form and add the rose water. The cookies came out very nice. -
I used this recipe as one of my Christmas cookies this year...the taste is SO good! The hint of cardamom (and rose water) is perfect together. Only thing, is this--my batter was quite runny, so I ended up adding another 1/2 cup of flour. Also, I doubled the batch, and by no means are there 72 servings worth per batch. Since they were a little on the runny side, I spooned them with an ice cream scoop and sprinkled a little bit of rose water on each. Thanks for posting this tasty recipe--I'll definitely be making it again! -
I only made up a small batch of this delicious cookie as I'm trying to cook more by cooking less (if that makes any sense). The cardamom flavour came through very mildly, but I'm wondering if that might not be due to the scaling feature. Anyway, keep that in mind. I used orange blossom water. This being Greece, I do have access to very fresh and pungent rose water and orange flower water (my pharmacist makes both up fresh when in bloom) and the orange flower taste was the most dominant, in a lovely, oriental way.
-
A wonderful cookie with fat coming from only the nuts and eggs! I did use the rose water that made it easy to form but no extra taste or fragrance. So water would work just fine. A must try! Thanks Toni!
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>I come from a long line of wonderful cooks and doing my best to hold up that tradition. My great-grandparents owned a coffee shop; my Nana was also a great cook and started the tradition of baking around the holidays, both cookies and fruitcakes. After she died, now a decade ago, our family decided to continue in her honor. The picture above is my mother's (Chef Hot Pans) dining room table just before we packed up our Christmas cookie trays. More that 20 kinds of cookies, many of which are from 'Zaar recipes. <br /> <br />I myself am an amateur cook with a penchant for ethnic foods and spice. Currently reforming my menu in favor of healthy dishes lower in fat with lots of grains and vegetables. My favorite cuisines are Mexican, Southwestern and North African. <br /> <br /> <br />Some of my favorite public cookbooks include:</p>
<li>ladypit's <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33588> WW Core Recipes I Have Tried </a> </li>
<p> </p>
<li>shirl(j)831's <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/34888> Can this really be lowfat??? </a> </li>
<p> </p>
<li>julesong's <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/30566> Cooking Light Recipes </a> </li>
<p> </p>
<li>mariposa13's <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/44690> WW & Lowfat Recipes </a> </li>
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