Nan-E Berenji

Ingredients

• 11½ ozrice flourfine, not glutinous rice flour; sifted
• 6 ozbutterunsalted, at room temperature; traditionally also ghee
• 4¼ ozpowdered sugarsifted
• 2egg yolkat room temperature
• 2 tbsprose watergood quality, provides the main aroma
• 1 tspcardamompreferably freshly ground
• 1 tbsppoppy seedsfor sprinkling on top
• purslane seedsfor sprinkling, instead of poppy seeds (optional)
• 2 tbspsaffronbloomed in water; for yellow or two-tone cookies (optional)
• 1 ozpistachiosfor decoration (optional)

Method

1. Bring ingredients to room temperatureTake the butter and egg yolks out of the fridge in good time and let them come to room temperature.
2. Cream butter and egg yolksBeat the butter with the sifted powdered sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg yolks one at a time until the mixture is smooth again.
3. Mix the doughSift the rice flour and cardamom together. Work the flour mixture into the butter a little at a time, add the rose water and, if you like, the bloomed saffron, and bring everything together into a smooth, soft dough.
4. Rest the doughCover the dough and let it rest for several hours, ideally in the fridge.
5. Soften dough and preheat ovenTake the dough out and leave it at room temperature for a short while, until it is easy to shape. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to about 320 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Shape and flatten the ballsRoll the dough into walnut-sized balls, flatten them slightly and set them on the baking sheet with a little space between them.
7. Stamp and decorate the cookiesPress a pattern into each cookie with a stamp, a fork or the edge of a spoon, then sprinkle with poppy seeds or purslane seeds, and decorate with slivered pistachios if you like.
8. Bake the cookiesBake for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are firm but still pale on top.
9. Cool completely and storeLet them cool completely on the baking sheet, as they break very easily while warm, then lift them off carefully and store in an airtight container.

Tips and variations

For yellow cookies, add the bloomed saffron to all of the dough; for two-tone cookies, add it to just half. Purslane seeds can take the place of poppy seeds, and ghee is the traditional alternative to butter; some cooks replace the powdered sugar with a sugar syrup scented with rose water and use a mix of ghee and neutral oil for the fat. If you are short on time, you can shape the dough without the long rest. You can also roll it out and cut it with a cookie cutter instead of shaping balls. Without an oven, the cookies can be baked in a double-sided pan on the stovetop, which takes about 30 minutes. A variation uses wheat flour instead of rice flour plus a pinch of salt; the result is similar, but no longer strictly Nan-E Berenji. For Nowruz, arrange them on a flat platter so the pressed patterns are easy to see.