Cardamom Half-Moons | ||||||||||||||||||
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From Early American Life, December 2003
Cardamom Half-Moons
by Claire Hopley
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Prune-filled pastries and cardamom-flavored baked goods are popular in throughout Scandinavia. This recipe comes from Iceland. |
INGREDIENTS
For the filling:
4 ounces (about 11⁄4 cups) pitted prunes
1 2-inch cinnamon stick
For the cookie dough:
11⁄2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cardamom
1⁄2 cup sugar
10 tablespoons (11⁄4 sticks) cold,
unsalted butter
1 egg
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
To make filling, put prunes in a small saucepan; add water just to cover prunes and cinnamon stick. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes or until prunes are tender, adding a little more water if has all been absorbed beforeprunes are soft. Remove cinnamon stick, puree prunes, and let cool.
To make cookie dough, mix flour, baking powder, cardamom, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut butter into small bits and rub it into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, beat egg with 2 teaspoons of cold water. Add to flour mixture. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or grease them. On a lightly floured board, roll out dough thinly. Cut into circles with a 2 1⁄2' round cookie cutter. Roll each circle with rolling pin so it becomes slightly oval. Spoon a teaspoon of prune filling into the center of each oval, then fold over, pressing edges together to seal. As you place cookies on cookie sheets, bend the 2 ends a little towards each other to make a halfmoon shape. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Makes 2 dozen.