Drommar (Swedish Dream) Cookies

I've mentioned this before, but every year for Christmas John's aunt Nancy makes up a bunch of different kinds of traditional Swedish cookies and sends them out to family and friends. These Drommar cookies are a relatively new addition to the line-up. I'm not a big coconut fan, but when I bit into one of these, I was totally hooked. Crispy, yet light and airy, buttery and flavorful. Dream cookies? Oh, yeah. Nancy said she was accosted at her mailbox one day by a neighbor who had to know what those cookies were. I think he said something along the lines of "Forget the other cookies, just give me a tin of the coconut ones every year from now on."

I knew I needed to make the cookies when Nancy told me they had a secret special ingredient in them. Something I had never even heard of before- Baker's Ammonium. Yeah, I said ammonium. It's a dry, powdered ammonium, I had to buy it off the Internet, it stinks like ammonia, and I have it triple bagged in my freezer to keep it. You only add a teaspoon, but that is one batch of cookie dough you are not gonna want to nibble on. It's totally poisonous. Plus it stinks enough that you aren't even going to be tempted. Don't worry, it bakes off in the oven, and the end product is perfectly safe and definitely yummy. See all those holes in the cookie?

That's what the ammonium does. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that I am the daughter of a chemist, or what, but the chemical reaction in the baking process totally intrigued me, and I just had to try it.

As with the rest of the Swedish cookies, they are best when given the chance to age a little bit, and they should be kept in a tin in the fridge, but will keep for a few months (if they last that long) Also, I have looked high and low and can't seem to find any coconut oil (flavoring, not cooking oil) So, I just use two teaspoons of the coconut extract.

Drommar (Swedish Dream) Cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

1 1/4 c sugar

1 tsp. coconut oil

1 tsp. coconut extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups AP flour

1 tsp crushed ammonium carbonate- also called Bakers Ammonium.

1 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Cream together sugar and butter. Add extracts (and the coconut oil if you can find it). Mix well. Sift together flour, salt, and ammonium carbonate. Add to butter mixture. Mix REALLY well. Mix in the flaked coconut until well combined.

Form into disk and chill overnight wrapped in wax paper. Form into 1 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 300 degrees in top third of oven for 18-22 minutes or until lightly golden around edges.