Not so sweet cookies

You know the expression: "when hell freezes over"? Isn't it the feeling everybody is having these days? It's of course all relative, I've been reading the news from different countries, they all refer to the weather as "polar", but for some it's -5°C, for some it's -15°C and for some others it's -30°C.
Although I like winter, I have to admit that wearing 2 pairs of socks and 3 layers of clothes (under my coat) isn't my favorit thing to do. I just want to stay inside and watch the pretty snow from my comfy couch.

Being cold most of the time in "normal" temperatures, I do have a hard time these days not to shiver constantly. So any way to heat up my place a little is a good option, like for instance using the oven! And what better way to use the oven than to bake cookies. After the christmas cookies haze, I did a break from the cookie dough and cutters.

But a recent trip to IKEA provided me with new cookie cutters, in the shape of animals, that I had to try out. A nice recipe in "ELLE à table" magazine, based on spices sounded apropriated for that. They turn out to be really good, not too sweet, I believe if you leave out the sugar completly you'll have a nice cracker aswell. And my snail cookie cutter is my new favorit one!

Poppy Seeds and Spices Cookies (based on ELLE à Table N°80)

For 30-40 Cookies (depending on the size)

250gr of Flour
2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
90gr of Light Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Sugar
125gr of Butter
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons of Poppy Seeds
1/2 a Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger
1/2 a Teaspoon of Salt
1/2 a Teaspoon of Bicarb

Cut the butter into small cubes and leave it out of the fridge while you prepare the rest, so it softens a little.
In a bowl, combine the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the bicarb, both sugars, the poppy seeds, the nutmeg and the ginger. Mix, so all the powders are well combined.

Add the butter, and a little like a crumble, try to combine it into the flour mixture. You can do this with your hands, I used my beloved kitchenaid with the flat beater attachement, at a very low speed for a few minutes.
Now you can add the egg, if the egg is big, the yolk might be sufficient, I had to add the white aswell.

When it forms a ball of dough, cover it with cling film and leave it to rest at least an hour (overnight is even better).

Preheat the oven to 150°C

Roll the dough out on a floured worksurface, it should be pretty thin (about 3 millimeters). Cut the cookies out with your cutters, and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
Cook them in the oven for about 15 minutes, the egdes should get a nice golden color. Leave them to cool on a rack and place them in an air tight jar.