GMA Recipe: Cardamom Butter Squares

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Cardamom Butter Squares
From GMA's Food Editor and author, Sara Moulton
September 22, 2004

It's become an annual treat when Sara Moulton comes by Good Morning America with some of the most outstanding cookies from Gourmet Magazines's holiday cookie issue.

Yvonne M. Parnes of Batavia, Ohio, got the recipe for these rich, buttery cookies in an e-mail from the McCormick spice company. We like them plain, but drizzled with espresso icing and bittersweet chocolate, they are truly out of this world.

Makes about six dozen cookies.
Cooking time: 35 minutes.
Start to finish: 5 1/2 hours (includes chilling)

Ingredients
for the cookies:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

for the espresso and chocolate icings:

1 teaspoon instant-espresso powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk

1 cup confectioners sugar

3 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), melted

Directions

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and allspice in a bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes in a stand mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment) or four minutes with a handheld.

Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Form dough into two (12-inch) logs (1 1/2 inches in diameter), each on its own sheet of plastic wrap. Use plastic wrap and your hands to roll, press and square off sides of logs. Chill logs on a baking sheet until slightly firm, about one hour, then smooth logs with plastic wrap and flat side of a ruler to achieve straight sides. Chill logs on baking sheet until firm, about one hour.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350° F.

Cut enough scant 1/4-inch-thick slices from a log with a knife to fill two large ungreased baking sheets, arranging slices about one inch apart (chill remaining dough, wrapped in plastic wrap).

Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes total. Cool on sheets three minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough on cooled baking sheets.

Whisk together espresso powder, vanilla, and one tablespoon of milk until espresso powder is dissolved, then add confectioner's sugar and enough additional milk to make a thick but pourable icing. Spoon into a sealable bag and snip 1/8 inch off a bottom corner.

Spoon melted chocolate into another sealable bag and snip 1/8 inch off a bottom corner.

Pipe some espresso icing and chocolate over each cookie and let cookies stand on racks until icing sets, about two hours.

Dough logs can be chilled five days or frozen, wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, for month (thaw in refrigerator just until they can be sliced).

Cookies (with or without icing) will keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature for one week.

Recipes courtesy of Gourmet magazine, copyright © 2004.