Cookbook of the week - A Cook's Year ...

    Almond cookies with cardamom, "crisp, buttery little biscuits to dip into mid-morning coffee ...". In A Cook's Year in a Welsh Farmhouse by Elisabeth Luard this recipe features during the winter months, and as the cardamom adds such a note of almost gingery warmth to the finished biscuits, they are perfect for the colder time of the year, but I wouldn't pass them by whatever the weather.

    You're meant to grind the whole (unskinned) almonds yourself, and I'm sure that would give an interesting texture and an artisanal feel, but I had only ready ground almonds in the cupboard so that's what I used and no harm done, though I forgot the dusting of icing sugar at the end. Next time ...

Comments

[Nancy]

Hmmmm, I'm wondering how would the grinding of the almonds turn out. I am now using Almond Butter (from Trader Joe's) with my marmalade or strawberry preserves - and, it's made just like the store-ground peanut butter, with no other ingredients, just the ground nuts. It is a lot 'looser' than that kind of peanut butter, almost pourable, you might say. It's good, but not quite as satisfying as the peanut butter.

[Cornflower]

I'd like to try almond butter.
Elisabeth Luard does make the point that you have to be careful when crushing the almonds not to let them become oily, so it might well be best to use a mortar and pestle rather than a food processor.