These Swedish vanilla cookies truly live up to their name – drömmar means “dreams” in Swedish. They are especially popular during the Christmas season and literally melt in your mouth. For me, they are a good example of how the simple things are usually the best things. In times of general consumer and social media madness, even baking cookies during Advent seems to me to have degenerated into an absurd self-promotion competition. The more complicated, elaborate and abstruse the better.
In my opinion, Advent should be a time of contemplation and reflection and not a celebration of consumerism. So here is the recipe for simply good cookies. If you don’t have a vanilla pod, you can substitute with vanilla sugar or a little vanilla extract, though the flavor is particularly rich when using real vanilla.
Drömmar (Swedish Vanilla Cookies)
Ingredients:
- 150 g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 250 ml (1 cup) granulated sugar
- Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 500 ml (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) neutral oil (e.g., canola or vegetable oil)
- ½ tsp baker’s ammonia (ammonium carbonate)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).
- In a mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla seeds (or vanilla extract) together until smooth using a mixer.
- Gradually beat in the oil until fully incorporated.In a separate bowl, mix the baker’s ammonia (or baking powder) with the flour. Add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until a smooth dough forms.
- Roll the dough into small balls about the size of a walnut. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space between them as they will spread while baking. This recipe makes enough dough for about two baking sheets.
- Bake the trays one at a time in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden. If baking both trays at once, use a fan setting (convection) and lower the temperature to about 180°C (355°F).
- Let the cookies cool slightly before gently removing them from the parchment paper and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating—they are fragile when warm but will firm up as they cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. Enjoy!
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