Recipe for Crispy Lingonberry and Oat Cookies

I was in a cookie mode yesterday. Friends of us had invited us over for dinner (thank you, Marika & Tambet!), and we wanted to bring something little and nice and edible along. Browsing through my Estonian recipe site, I came across a Finnish Valio recipe for 'Puolukka-kauracookiet', which sounded perfect, as K's mum keeps us well supplied with lingonberries this autumn (remember the lingonberry and chocolate cake, and Swedish lingonberry cake? You get the picture - we've got loads of these berries).

And these cookies were lovely! They made the whole house smell like Christmas - and as it was a beautifully sunny autumn day outside and we were on a way to spend couple of hours sailing on the Tallinn bay, that smell was a good sign of the good times ahead of us..

Lingonberry and Oat Cookies
(Pohla-kaeraküpsised )
Makes 4 dozens

200 g butter, at room temperature
275 g caster sugar (300 ml)
1 large egg
200 g plain/all-purpose flour (400 ml)
110 g rolled oats or 4-grain cereal flakes (300 ml)
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom seeds
1 tsp baking powder
half a cup of fresh or frozen lingonberries

Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the egg. You should have a pale and creamy mixture.
Measure flour, oats, cardamom and baking powder into a bowl, then fold into the butter mixture. Combine - either with a wooden spoon or by using your hands. Fold in the lingonberries.
Take a spoonful (either a heaped teaspoonful or half a tablespoonful) of cookie mixture, roll into a small ball in your palm, then press slightly. Place on a parchment-covered cookie sheet, leaving plenty of space for spreading. (I placed 3x4 cookies on a sheet at the time).
Bake in the middle of a 200 C/400 F oven for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden brown.
Cool completely. These will keep nicely in an airtight cooki tin for a couple of days.