Swedish Christmas Cookies

By norsegal8

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• colored sanding sugars or toasted pecans

Preparation

Step 1

Whisk in the flour, cardamom and salt in a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla and lemon zest until combined.

Add the flour and mix to form a soft, buttery dough. Divide the dough onto two 12-inch long sheets of plastic wrap. Using the plastic, shape the dough into rough logs. Refrigerate the logs for 30 minutes, or until just firm enough to uniform logs, 8 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Scatter either the colored sugars or nuts on a pan, and roll the logs until completely covered.

Cut into 1/4-inch thick cookies, and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake until just golden around the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks.