Drömmar - Swedish Cookies

Crunchy melt in mouth cookies. These Swedish gems are worth a try!

It's been a while. A long while. Since I posted up anything. It has been six years, and a great amount of life experience. For the better, and worse. It feels weird to be here again, editing pictures, setting up posts, and sharing yumminess with you all. A busy life, emotional roller coaster and loss of my will are some of the reasons. I am in my little nostalgic world while writing this post hoping it will last longer this time.

So what brought me back? A sudden and very unexpected turn in life. Not just in mine, but in all lives across the world. Yes, I am talking about the corona virus. The invisible virus that has turned our lives upside down for the past three weeks. It has made us stop, and perhaps made us start reflecting. While it is heartbreaking to see all the death rates in the world, we can just hope and pray for the best, and start appreciating our loved ones.

Quarantine life is giving us plentiful of time in our hands. Why not make the best out of it, and do something that you are passionate about while feeding thousands of hearts across the world by sharing the sweetness in this bitter time. That's what I thought at least, and here I am.

The cookies I will share with you today are the famous Swedish cookies called "drömmar", which means "dreams". These cookies are sweet, crunchy and literally melt in your mouth. They are simple to make and leave you with some impressive results. Each bite starts off with a crunch in your mouth from the grainy sugar and then melt on your tongue.

The baking ammonia makes the cookies crack open and gives the airy holes inside and can not be left out or substituted for another leavening agent. I also tried out a orange flavoured version of these cookies, and they turned out even more delicious. Recipe will come soon.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in these times. Stay safe! Amidst of all the negativity, let's spread some love and sweetness. What about having some fluffy and melting dreaming moments with your next cup of tea..

Drömmar

Recipe adapted from Sju Sorters Kakor (ICA Provkök)

Makes about 20 cookies

...........................................................  INGREDIENTS  ...........................................................

50 g / 0.2 cup butter
1,5 dl / 135 g / 0.6 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar

1/2 dl / 50 ml / 0.2 cup oil

1/2 tsp baking ammonia (deer horn salt)*

approx. 2 dl / 120 g / 1 cup plain flour

Garnish

10 almonds, finely sliced

...........................................................  PREPARATION  ...........................................................

1 Grease or line one baking tray about 30x40 cm / 12x16 inches with parchment paper

2 Beat butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until smooth with el-mixer or a wooden spoon (it will still be grainy)

3 Add the oil, little at a time and beat well between each addition until it becomes silky and smooth (I use my hand here to whip in the oil)

4 Mix the baking ammonia / horn salt with a little of the flour and stir it into the batter

5 Work in rest of the flour (maybe all flour is not needed, we are looking for a soft dough that is not sticking)

6 Roll out the dough into two logs and cut each into ten equal bites, and roll them to form balls
7 Place them on the baking tray and lightly press the sliced almonds on each cookie

Bake in the middle of the oven at 150 C / 300 F for about 15 minutes or until they turn slightly golden at the bottom

Let sit for a few minutes on the tray and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool

*Note! The baking ammonia can not be substituted since it gives these cookies their characteristic crack open look and the airy holes inside. While the cookies are baking you will smell baking ammonia all over the kitchen, it is not dangerous, the smell will disappear once the cookies are baked. These cookies should not be over-baked, they are supposed to keep their pale colour and should not be turned golden at all!

Enjoy!