Cookies Noord-Holland style

‘Dennenkoeken’

125 grams/5 oz. soft butter
4 eggs
500 grams/2 lbs.2 oz. brown sugar
600 grams/2 lbs.6 oz. flour
1 cachet baking powder
5 tbsp. beer
150 grams/ 6 oz. coarse sugar
salt
4 tsp mixed spices (½ tsp ground nutmeg or cardamon; ½ tsp ground clove; ½ tsp ground anise; ½ tsp ginger powder; 2 tsp ground cinnamon), ‘koekkruiden’ or ‘speculaaskruiden’

Stir the butter till it is smooth and soft, and mix in the eggs one-by-one. Add the sugar, a pinch of salt and the spices and mix thoroughly. Sift in the flour and baking powder and knead well to make the dough firm. Wrap in plastic or foil and put in the fridge for a few hours.

Lightly cover part of the counter top or a large cutting board with flour and roll out the dough till it’s about ½ centimetre / ¼” thick. Cut out round cookies, brush them with beer and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

Transfer the cookies to a greased cookie sheet and bake them in the oven for 20 minutes (200ºC/390ºF) till the cookies are crisp and golden brown. After taking them out of the oven, immediately put the cookies on a wire rack to cool.