Eureka! Brun brod. I hadn't made brun brod in ages. In fact, I'm not sure I've made brun brod before outside of maternal supervision, and I've been making cookies without maternal supervision for a long time. Going on twenty years now, I think. And these are ball cookies, which did not unduly tax my verticality today.
I am so glad we didn't have the raisins, because these -- are -- perfect. They are just the right amount of soft with just the right amount of sanding sugar for texture, and oh, so fine. So familiar, and yet we just haven't gotten around to making them in ages. And with a cup of hot cocoa, the cinnamon cardamom flavor is not too much of a muchness, just enough different, but it'll go with hot tea, too, for Virginia when she's here.
They probably won't enter the regular rotation of cookies I make often. They don't need to. Today they were just the right thing, and on a day when I needed to be able to do just the right thing. I haven't been baking as much, and it's been for good reason with the vertigo, but when I can do it, I remember why I like to do it. Because when it works, it's fragrant and tangible and crumbles just right in my mouth, and gives me a sense that the rest of the stuff I'm working on is maybe going somewhere, too.
Edited to add: brun brod recipe.
