Don't be afraid or scared but the secret ingredient in these dream biscuits was once made from ground male deer's antlers and boy did it smell like it! I recall my Norwegian grandmother using this and it smelt terrible. Today the secret ingredient is actually chemically made but the one consistent is the smell. Be warned it truly is awful but it really does make the difference as the leavening agent and makes these biscuits and many others in Norway aid the melt in the mouth crispy taste. If you cannot get hold of any ammonium carbonate, (try a chemist) then, of course, you could use baking soda but it will not be quite the same.
These biscuits are found all over Scandinavia and there are many slight variations all over the internet but for today's recipe, I used the wonderful Bronte Aurell's one from her fabulous book, Fikka & Hygge, she states hers are Swedish, but I promise we make and eat these in Norway too!
So today I give you the 3rd recipe of 7 biscuits for the run up to Christmas. ENJOY!
Dream biscuits
You will need:
♥ 120g butter
♥ 200g caster sugar
♥ 2 tsp vanilla extract
♥ 80ml neutral-tasting oil, sunflower/rapeseed for example
♥ 240g plain flour
♥ 0.5 tsp hartshorn/ammonia carbonate
♥ 0.5 tsp grated lemon
* Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
* Add vanilla and oil and beat till combined.
* Preheat oven to 190 degrees.
* Roll chilled dough into small balls. Each should weigh 15g each. Do not overwork the dough.* Place balls on greaseproof lined baking trays. Leave space between as they will spread a little. Leave them as balls, no need to push them down or flatten them.
* Bake for 20-25 minutes. The dream biscuits will not change much in colour and stay pale, remove when there is a slight colour change and gently cracked tops. Please do not open the ven for the first 15 minutes or so as this will affect the biscuits.
* Cool on a wire rack.
* Store in an airtight box, they should last for over a week and remain crisp, thanks to the hartshorn.
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| Dream biscuits, crispy and with a crunch |
♥ What have you been baking recently? ♥
Not sure about these, Selma. They look lovely though! x
ReplyDeletehahahaaa! not surprised you say that but they really are wonderful Karen!
DeleteI think I may opt for baking powder, coward that I am!
ReplyDeleteJan!!! You managed to comment! Hope it was an easy fix! And I can understand the coward then, but if you can get past the smell they it disappears in the baking and they taste delicious x
DeleteGlad you confirmed my assumption that the smell disappears during baking. :-) These sound intriguing, too!
ReplyDeleteYep promise it dissappears Linne.
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