Saffron & Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

These golden saffron and hazelnut crinkle cookies are a foolproof treat that are fun to make and very easily devour! They’re a delicious Christmas cookie with a crisp exterior, a soft centre and a little crunch from the nuts.

If you follow me you’ll know that I have a fondness for saffron, a Christmas spice that you’ll see in many baked goods in Scandinavia in the festive season.  I adore the glorious colour and the subtly, earthy flavour and aroma, it has sweetness too, similar to floral honey.

A few tips on how to bake Saffron & Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies:

• Make sure you start with room temperature ingredients so the butter and egg mix together easily.
• Make sure you chill the cookie dough for at least 3 hours. The dough is quite sticky and easier to manage once it has been chilled (the longer, the better).
• Once they’re rolled into balls and placed onto a baking tray, there is no need to press them down. They will naturally bake into shape.
• You may wonder why there are 2 coatings of sugar? if you skip rolling the cookies in caster sugar the icing sugar just melts away as they cook.  So it’s a necessary step.
• Make sure your oven is pre-heated before baking!

I urge you to give these little nuggets of sunshine a try, they’ll definitely brighten your day.

Print Recipe

Saffron & Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time14 minutes mins

Total Time34 minutes mins

Course: Fika

Cuisine: Swedish

Servings: 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 70 g butter room temperature
• 100 g caster sugar
• a good pinch saffron
• 1 Tbls milk
• 1 medium egg room temperature
• 90 g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 35 g hazelnuts skinned and roughly chopped

Topping

• 50 g caster sugar
• 50 g icing sugar

Instructions

• Begin by crushing the saffron stamens into a powder in a bowl, then add a tablespoon of warm milk and leave to steep for 10 minutes, to maximise the flavour.
• Whisk butter, caster sugar, vanilla extract and saffron lightly in a bowl. Whisk the egg and add to the butter mixture in 3 additions, whisking in-between.
• Place the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and stir well. Add to the wet ingredients stir to form a smooth dough. Wrap and place in the fridge for a least 3 hours.
• Set the oven to 175C fan.
• Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 30 pieces, rolling each piece into a ball.
• Roll each ball in caster sugar then follow with a generous amount of icing sugar.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 12-14 minutes until the surface crackles. Love eaten soon after they have been baked. They will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

Tips:

• If you’re dairy-free, this recipe works equally well with sunflower oil instead of butter.
• Add the zest of an orange or lemon for additional flavour.
• The dough can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days.  Bake as and when want to fika!