Coriander Seed Cookies: Sugar + Spice turned out Nice

"The manna was like coriander seed" (Numbers 11:7)

Last week I bought a bottle of whole coriander seeds thinking it would be useful just in case we'll be in the mood for vegetable biryani. They happen to be cheaper than I expected; Php 25.00 (less than $1) for a 40g bottle. I guess I was lucky to be in the grocery when they were restocking their supplies, the grocery attendant said their spices often ran out quickly.

Coriander seeds are not actual "seeds"; they are dried fruits of the coriander plant, a herb whose leaves are called cilantro or chinese parsley. Almost every part of the coriander plant is used for cooking, the roots are used mainly in Thai cooking. One might think that both the fruit/seed and leaves share the same flavor, but it does not; surprisingly, the seeds are sweet, peppery and citrus-like in taste and scent compared to its leaves (cilantro) which are soapy and rank. Because of the sweet nature of this spice, it's an interesting addition to cakes and breads.

On my previous post, I made meatballs using coriander seeds. I was really intrigued since it was the first time to work with the spice. I googled on baking recipes using the seeds, but most of them turn out to be either Asian or Middle Eastern stew dishes. I just found one recipe so far using coriander seeds in baking; this cookie recipe is adapted from Mum In Bloom, which she apparently got from Green Earth Institute. I made a few tweaking again since I was aiming for a butter-less cookie and used brown sugar instead of white (saving them up for dad's birthday cake). Also, the posted recipe made use of ground seeds; since I had whole ones I used (again) the coffee grinder attachment of our blender and pulsed it for a minute or so. We don't have cookie sheets, but the baking pans work well. I use them all the time. 

My nephew adding the trimmings.
Dreaming to be a Junior Master Chef! :)

Luckily I had some help from my nephew. He said he wanted to go to cooking school this summer hence he was enthusiastic enough to help me out. He practiced cracking the egg, whisking and rolling the whole batch. He also wanted to have some chocolate involved, so we added what we had available: candy coated chocolate drops just before baking. It was that easy; if a seven year old can do it, so can you! :)

Lemony slightly-peppery cookies!

CORIANDER SEED COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp coriander seeds grounded

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven to 400F and line/grease cookie sheet.

1. Combine flour, sugar and coriander seeds in a large bowl. Stir in oil until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl, lightly beat egg. Add milk and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the flour-oil mix. Mix well.

3. Roll dough into balls and place onto baking sheets. Flatten with a fork.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes. Do not overcook or cookies will become too hard. Let cool.

I'm glad my nephew has taken an interest in baking; because he would just sit too close to the TV all the time. He was a bit nervous at first, but he eventually enjoyed it; especially when he was munching one cookie after another. As for me, I had to control myself since I'm watching the calories; but the cookies were certainly addicting. The taste was unusual, but in a good way. It pairs well with nice hot cup of earl grey tea.