Farmer Cookies

My sister-in-law, her boyfriend and her little 6 year old son arrive in New York today from Sweden to visit. It is Isaac's (6) first time away from Sweden and I figured that any Swede away from home would be happy to find a cookie they recognized waiting for them on arrival. So I decided to bake a tin of Farmer Cookies "Bondkaka" to have at hand for their visit. It is a staple from my Mother-in-Law's repertoire and was happily recognized by small hands. A deceptively simple cookie, it is incredibly morish and elicits an 'mmmmm' from everyone who tries it because I think it takes one by surprise - the eye and the taste buds are both fooled, it is more like a rich almond shortbread than a humble tea biscuit. And it is delicious. These fat golden coins of a cookie are a the farm hand's gold.

The recipe is super simple. I've made this both by hand (making a mound of flour and cutting in all the ingredients on a work surface) and in the food processor, both work just as well and neither is more complicated than the other really. Ingredients: 2 1/4cups of all purpose flour, 3/4 cups of sugar, 3/4 cup chopped almonds, 200g cold butter, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp water, 1 tbsp of light molasses or corn syrup. Recipe: Make a mound of flour on a work surface, add the remaining ingredients, quickly cut in the butter, kneading lightly. Or, add all the dry ingredients to a food processor bowl with large blade, add butter, blitz to sand, add wet ingredients until combined, knead lightly. Form into two logs, 4-5 cm thick, wrap in plastic, refrigerate for at least two hours until hard. Cut into 1/2 cm slices, place on a baking tray (lined or non stick), bake in centre oven for 6-8 minutes until golden at 200C/400F.