Saffron Almond cookies

Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups of All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of Almonds
• 12-15 walnuts – chopped, roughly (optional. I use them because it gives a nice aroma and texture to these cookies)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup/ sugar (i used maple syrup)
• 1/3 cup butter (melted)
• 4-5 strands of saffron (optional) – Soak the strands in 1 tsp of lukewarm milk for atleast 10 minutes before using
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 1- 2 tsp All spice, as per choice (to make your own all spice, mix equal quantities of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and grind to a fine powder)

Method

1. Take a saucepan. Put it to medium high heat and add almonds in it. Dry roast for 2-3 minutes while tossing them in between. Remove from pan and let it completely cool down. You will notice that the almonds have become crunchy.
2. Grind these into a rough powder. Reserve. I used mortar+pestle for grinding so that some pieces are slightly bigger in size which will add a nice texture to these cookies.
3. Now, take a bowl. Add in all purpose flour, almond powder, chopped walnut, all spice and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, mix in the melted butter, maple syrup, almond essence and saffron (with milk). Mix till the mixture is homogenous.
5. Now adding a little at a time, combine this with the flour and form into a brittle dough. While you add in the liquid mixture, it may feel that the liquid is less but keep folding in till everything is mixed well. If the dough is not forming yet, add in 2-3 tsp of milk.
6. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes . Meanwhile pre-heat your oven set to 250 F.
7. For shaping the cookies, you can either use a cookie cutter or just form circular shapes with your palms. To use a cutter, take some dough in between 2 plastic films and flatten out into about 5 mm thickness using a rolling pin.
8. Now use the cookie cutter shape of your choice and gently cut out profiles.
9. Place the cookies on a greased baking tray. Keep about 1 cm gap between each cookie for even baking.
10. Pop the tray into the oven and let the cookies bake for about 8-10 minutes. The time will vary depending on the thickness of the cookie so check in between while baking the first batch, the cookies will turn a little brownish on the bottom and a light brown on the top.
11. Remove from the oven and transfer on a cooling tray. Repeat the process with the entire cookie dough. Let the cookies cool down completely.The cookies will appear soft and fragile when they just come out of the oven but as it cools down, they will get crunchy and firm up nicely.