FINNISH STICKS (Finska Pinnar)

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I introduce to you SWEDISH COOKIE NUMBER 5 from the "Seven Kinds of Cookies" platter! It is called Finnish Sticks (Finska Pinnar in Swedish). My Portuguese mother-in-law's favourite Swedish cookie! Nobody seems to know why they're considered "Finnish", because they're a Swedish invention. Another interesting fun fact (which I also didn't know) is that they are connected with Christmas. So perfect timing that I happened to make them now around Advent.

So what are these cookies made of? Well, the dough is sort of a shortcrust pastry or a shortbread dough. So very simple really – flour, sugar and butter. The very peculiar ingredient, however, is the bitter almond. Bitter almond is one more of those interesting and unique ingredients in traditional, Swedish baking (almonds are not native to Sweden, they are native to Portugal though). 

FYI, this is not the normal, sweet almond that we buy in the stores. In fact, in many countries it's difficult or impossible to get a hold of whole bitter almonds, unless you go to the liquor section and buy the liqueur version. The bitter almond comes from a different type of almond tree (Prunus amygdalus var. amara) and contains toxic chemicals. This is why when you buy them in Sweden (located in the baking section of the supermarket), each package only contains a few of them, because they are poisonous if consumed in huge amounts. Anyhow, the reason why we use them in baking (in small amounts – only 6 of them in this recipe) is for the added flavour. However, if you don't want to use them or can't get a hold of them, you can replace them with bitter almond aroma, bitter almond oil or bitter almond extract to add flavour to your baked goods.

Enjoy! 💗Helena


INGREDIENTS (Approx. 64 cookies):

  • 450 ml plain flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 bitter almonds, blanched and grated
  • 200 grams butter
  • Brushing: 
    • 1 egg white
  • Toppings: 
    • 50 ml normal, sweet almonds, chopped
    • 50 ml pearl sugar 


DIRECTIONS:
  1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
  2. Blanche the bitter almonds in boiling water for 1 minute to remove the skin. Then dry and grate them. 



  3. Mix together flour, sugar, grated bitter almonds and the butter in a food processor (or by hand). Work together the dough quickly. 



  4. Chill dough in fridge for 20-30 minutes. 

  5. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each part into a long "finger thick" stick. 



  6. Put the dough sticks close to each other and brush them with egg white. 

  7. Cover them with chopped, sweet almonds and pearl sugar. 




  8. Cut the sticks into 4 cm pieces. 


  9. Place the cookies on a baking tray with parchment paper. 


  10. Bake them in the middle of the oven for 12 minutes, or until they turn lightly golden. 
     
     



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