Lemon and Cardamom cookies

I was very excited to receive the Hairy Bikers Bakation book for my birthday, and only one chapter in I wanted to make everything!

Waiting around for our internet engineer to arrive seemed an excellent opportunity to start baking from this great book.

Now it has to be said these may not be the prettiest cookies to look at but they taste divine. The bikers suggest you could use a cookie press to make them prettier, however I do not have one (but it has been added to my mental list of kitchen stuff I want!).

Lemon and Cardamom cookies (from Hairy Bikers Bakation)

Recipe makes 24

225g butter

150g butter

Zest of one lemon

250g plain flour

100g ground almonds

1 tsp of ground cardamom seeds (this is approximately the seeds of 10 pods ground with a pestle and mortar.

First line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 190^oC/fan170^OC

Grind up the seeds of the cardamom pods and set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy.

Add the flour, almonds and ground cardamom, beat on slow to combine until the dough comes together. You may need to use your hands to get the dough completely together.

Roll into 24 balls and place onto the prepared sheets. Either stamp with a cookie stamp or flatten with a glass.

Bake for 12-14 mins until golden around the edges. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack. They will crisp up as they cool.

So as I said maybe not the prettiest, I am going with the very rustic homemade look. But no matter as they are the perfect thing to have with a cup of tea.