Saffron orange cookie
For my variation on the traditional medovníky cookie from Slovakia, I did not change very much. I really liked the texture, so I kept the same proportion of flour, butter, sugar and honey. I did use different flavoring. I baked the cookie with saffron instead of cloves and the zest of a whole orange instead of lemon. The result was a nice fall cookie with a subtle citrus taste and the full flavor of saffron. Even though leaves here do not seem to feel like dropping at all, I shaped these cookies into small golden leaves to be in keeping with the official season.
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Saffron orange cookie
For about 25 cookies
125 g (½ cup + 2 tbs) sugar
150 g (scant ½ cup) honey
60 g (½ stick) of butter
400 grams (3¼ cups) flour
5 grams (1 tsp) baking powder
about 10 saffron threads, crushed
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground anise
zest of 1 organic orange
pinch of salt
2 eggs
Melt the sugar with the honey, the butter and saffron in a saucepan over low heat. Let the mixture cool slightly.
Mix the flour with the baking powder, cloves, anise, orange zest and salt.
Add the honey mixture to the flour mixture and stir it in a little.
Add the egg and mix into a soft dough. Allow at least 4 hours or preferably 1 night to firm up in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350ºF. Roll the dough out to ½ cm / ⅕ inch on a floured work space or between 2 sheets of baking paper and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.
Bake the medovníky cookies in the middle of the oven for 7-10 minutes. A short time in the oven will leave them a little soft. A longer time in the oven will make them crunchy.
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