Dough Prep: 1 hour // Bake: 15 min
Whoever said Low Sugar desserts are not fun, should seriously try these ones. This is a pretty standard cookie recipe (with butter, sugar and egg) minus half the sugar quantity and pumped up with an uplifting combination of fresh orange and cardamom. And then comes the fun part. Get these fancy birdie cookie cutters from Amazon and I guarantee your little ones will have so much fun sticking fingers, shaping the dough and cutting birdie shapes.
Recipe
On the more serious side of things, I have halved the sugars and replaced the remaining half with unrefined alternatives plus some sweetener to boost the sweetness. Sweeteners have a lower glycemic index making them a good choice for kids and adults on diet. I often use molasses sugars, which are unrefined, unprocessed and claim to be low-glycemic. Not sure how true this is, but judging from their colours, they look a bit more natural. Plus they add a distinct coffee-caramel flavour to your bakes and blend really nicely with spices, a Caribbean twist to an ordinary delight.
Equipment
Mixing bowl, small bowl, balloon whisk, rolling pin
Ingredients (for 20-30 biscuits)
300g plain flour sifted
200g unsalted butter at room temperature
30g molasses raw sugar (or any other unrefined sugar like muscovado)
30ml agave syrup
1 egg
1 orange, zested + a squeeze of its juice
5-6 cardamom pods
Pinch of salt
Substitutes
Cardamom > Cloves. Orange goes well with cardamom but they also go well with cloves for a Christmassy flavour.
Orange > Lemon. Lemons or limes are a good substitute but you will need to increase the sweetness as a whole, should you use their juice (to balance the sourness).
Molasses > syrup. I recommend molasses as they give a nice strong flavour and matches the spiciness of cardamom but in absence, just use more syrup (60ml) and do not add orange juice in the recipe. In absence of both, and if you don't specifically care about calories and special diets, just use 60-70g caster sugar ;-)
Tip: Molasses can form small rocks over time; crash them lightly with a pestle and they will be back in their initial consistency
Instructions
Using an electric beater (or balloon whisk if you feel strong today) beat the softened butter, sugar and agave syrup in a big bowl until they look creamy.
Add the egg, the orange zest and the juice of half orange and continue beating until fluffy. Due to the ingredient swap, you might experience a less fluffy, more lumpy mixture. That's ok, it will incorporate later when flour is added.
Crash the cardamom pods and toss the seeds into the mortar. Turn them into powder using your pestle. This quantity of cardamom pods should give you around 1/2 tsp of powder.
Sift the flour through a sieve into the bowl with the rest of the mixed ingredients, add the cardamom and a couple of pinches of salt, and mix gently until you have a rough dough. Work it out slightly on a floured surface to give it a shape of a ball, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 45' (minimum) to 2 hours max to firm up.
When the dough is ready, line a big baking tray with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 160c (150 fan). Get these hands working, rolling and cutting out shapes.
Place the shapes carefully on the tray and bake for 15 mins or until the edges are light brownish.
They can last about a week in an airtight container
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