Saffron Almond Cookies

1. Put the saffron threads in a small bowl, add the lukewarm milk, and allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. Put a saucepan over medium high heat and add almonds. Dry roast them for 2-3 minutes while tossing them. Remove almonds from pan and let them completely cool down. You will notice that the almonds have become crunchy.

2. Grind the almonds into a rough powder. I used a mortar and pestle for grinding so that some pieces were slightly bigger in size. This added a nice texture to these cookies. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl add the all-purpose flour, almond powder, chopped walnuts and allspice and mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, mix in the melted butter, maple syrup, almond essence and saffron (with milk). Mix until well combined.

5. Adding a little at a time, combine the wet mixture with the flour and form into a dough. While you add in the liquid mixture, it may feel that the liquid is not enough but keep folding until everything is mixed well. If the dough is not forming yet, add in 2-3 teaspoons of additional milk.

6. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 250 F.

7. For shaping the cookies, you can either use a cookie cutter or just form circular shapes with your palms. To use a cutter, take some dough in between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and flatten it out into about 5 mm thickness using a rolling pin.

8. Now remove the top sheet of plastic and use the cookie cutter shape of your choice and gently cut out profiles.

9. Place the cookies on a greased baking tray. Keep about 1 cm gap between each cookie for even baking.

10. Pop the tray into the oven and let the cookies bake for about 8-10 minutes. The time will vary depending on the thickness of the cookies so check in between while baking the first batch. The cookies will turn a little brownish on the bottom and a light brown on the top.

11. Remove from the oven and transfer cookies to a cooling tray. Repeat the process with the entire batch of cookie dough. Let the cookies cool down completely. The cookies will appear soft and fragile when they just come out of the oven but as they cool down, they will get crunchy and firm up nicely.