Drömmar Cookies

Somehow, I’ve been relegated to the Christmas Cookie maker in the family. My mom and grandmother used to meet one glorious day in December and when I returned from school it was a confectionary delight. As I grew up, I was invited once to my grandmother’s to make cookies. Unfortunately, I was the odd man out. I didn’t inherit my mom and grandmother’s clean while you work mentality. As time progressed, my mom stopped making them. Bruce and I started our own tradition of cookie baking and candy making the first year we moved in together. 

We spend two days in the kitchen and inevitably argue. . . which is odd because we only argue in the kitchen really. Kitchen turf wars. By the time we hit the icing of cookies our turf war is over. This year, instead of having a two day marathon where it’s a race to the finish, we’re trying to do one cookie a week and freeze them. I have no idea if they’ll freeze well yet. It’s all a big science experiment. The first Holiday cookie went off without a hitch. No stress this week and no turf wars.

Well… Only a little while I was baking someone else was trying to make a gumbo that took four hours and hogged up all our counter space. We have triple the counter space in our new house yet it’s still not enough!! I digress… back to the cookie the star of the post. This was not a family tradition passed on from generation to generation. My mom, one Christmas, reveled in a story of a mysterious cookie her Swedish childhood neighbors once baked that evaporated in your mouth. She was sure they used ammonia. I was then intrigued by a mysterious ingredient – baking ammonia and Swedish. My father’s side has Swedish heritage so I like to reconnect with that side so I took up the challenge.

This is not the cookie that evaporates in your mouth but it does have an interesting texture. Crunchy yet light. Since we live in Jamestown which is fully populated with Swedish ancestry you can find the Baking ammonia at farmer’s markets and local delis. If you’re not so lucky you can find the ingredient online or at your pharmacy. I think next year I’m going to change the recipe with almond extract instead of vanilla. This is a traditional recipe for Drömmar’s. There are slight variations that you can find where an almond is placed on the top. Bakers complain that this cookie is easy to burn. I’ve never had an issue with burning so I stick with this recipe. The recipes say to chill the dough. I don’t recommend chilling, I find it harder to make the small balls. The butter dough works better for me this way.