Poppy Seed Cookies

"The Master lit the spirit lamp under the little chafing dish and heated some butter before cutting half a dozen poppy heads open and tossing them in. Poppy was always served after a feast: it clarified the mind and stimulated the tongue, and made for rich conversation. It was traditional for the Master to cook it himself." (pg. 17) The Golden Compass 

Lemon poppy seed cookies. Great with tea or just as a light snack- what are you waiting for?

These cookies have it all. Poppy seeds? Check. Butter? Most definitely. Opiates? Y-no. No.

Okay, so not everything. 

But they're still delicious and sure to open up a conversation between you and whoever you choose to share these with. 

If you don't like poppy seeds, you won't like these at all. 

They're seedy little cookies that you can pop in your mouth whole. At times they may seem more seed than cookie. You may have the urge to try and plant one. Don't. You can never get that cookie back.

Of course, if you're having panserbjørn over for tea, you might want to make some muffins too. Maybe a double batch. They'll want to eat quite a lot before they challenge you to mortal combat. It's only good manners.

Poppy Seed Cookies

3/4 cups sugar 

2 cups flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 cup poppy seeds 

2 eggs 

1/2 cup oil 

2 Tbs lemon rind 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Sift dry ingredients and add poppy seeds. Make well in flour mixture and add eggs, oil and rind. Mix together gently to form dough. 

Grease baking sheets. 

Roll the dough into tiny balls and place them onto the baking sheet. My baking sheets can hold about fifteen cookies- three per row, five rows in all.   

Make sure you have plenty of space between the dough circles. The cookies will expand in the oven. 

Get a cup with a flat bottom and fill the bottom of a small plate with sugar. You are going to be using the sugar as though it was flour on a rolling pin. It will keep the dough from sticking to the cup.

Cover the bottom of the cup in sugar by grinding it against the sugar pile. Then press one at a time the dough balls into tiny circles on the baking sheet. You will have to continually make sure the bottom of the cup is covered in sugar and use more sugar when necessary. 

Place the baking sheet in the oven.

Bake each batch for ten minutes. Cool on a rack.