Advieh Butter Cookies
Also dubbed as the Persian garam masala, advieh is as fragrant and as versatile as its South Asian counterpart. It works especially well in baked goods.
This is a very fitting inaugural post to Substack, mostly because it introduces how I approach using flavours outside of my own culture in unlikely places. How many people use advieh in cookies? This post also serves as my love letter to Monsoon Coast—a Salt Spring Island-based company that introduced me to a whole new world of spice blends.
Those who have been following me on Instagram for a while know that I have been working as a regular contributor for Monsoon Coast as both their product photographer and recipe developer. It is a partnership of which I am very proud; their blends are excellent and a pleasure to work with. The company is headed by one of my dear friends too, so there's that added bonus. Monsoon Coast has been around for over 20 years, but Shadel Haddad took over the established company from its original owners in 2019, and consequently made the move from Vancouver to Salt Spring Island in order to best take the brand to whole new levels of notoriety. A good portion of the blends they make have yet to make regular appearances in your everyday grocery stores—blends that have now become personal favourites of mine: berbere, baharat, ras el hanout. Those who grew up in countries that use these blends will of course be no stranger to these, but for those whose spice blend knowledge go only as far as “curry powder”, these blends can feel too one-dish-specific for use in everyday meals.
It is Shadel’s goal to break the monotony in your spice pantry—at least, that is what I cannot help but think when he first introduces me to some of his favourite blends. Now, I am not a stranger to the global pantry, but even my culinary adventures growing up in a city as multicultural as Toronto have only gotten me so far, and besides, I would like to think I am a forever student when it comes to eating. Both of Arab and Armenian descent, blends like baharat and ras el hanout are as ubiquitous to Shadel as the heady combination of bay leaves, peppercorns, and garlic are to me—a Filipina immigrant.
Shadel maintains that these blends can perform more than just one-dish tricks in your kitchen; you can sprinkle ras el hanout over vegetables and roast them in a hot oven, use berbere in your favourite meatloaf or meatball recipe, or use chaat masala in your quick pickles or fruit plates. Various recipes using their spice blends can be found on their growing recipe library—a space Shadel and his small team are keen on growing and building on over time.
Monsoon Coast’s Persian Advieh was released to the public as a limited edition spice blend a few weeks ago, but here’s hoping they keep it as part of their permanent spice library because upon first whiff, I was hooked. It was then explained to me that advieh is as ubiquitous in Persian kitchens as garam masala is in South Asian kitchens, and are used in a variety of stews, meat dishes, and rice dishes. Much like I have used ras el hanout in both savoury and sweet applications (a recipe on one much later), I took one whiff of Monsoon Coast’s advieh and thought it would make a lovely snickerdoodle. But then upon dreaming of an advieh-flavoured snickerdoodle, I suddenly also had a hankering for butter cookies—you know… the ones you get in that signature blue tin, usually around the holidays. So I decided to scrap my snickerdoodle idea and make butter cookies flavoured with advieh. (But by all means, go dig up your go-to snickerdoodle recipe and make it with advieh too; I know I will, at some point!)
A note on this recipe: I have done away with the use of a scale in this cookie recipe, but when measuring out your dry ingredients, take care not to pack your measuring cups tight with your dry ingredients. Aerate your dry starches first—using something like a chopstick or a spoon—then level your dry ingredients off with a knife or your finger.
Advieh Butter Cookies
(makes about a dozen, give or take a few)
Special Equipment
whisk, a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or an electric hand whisk
rubber spatula
fine sieve
cookie scoop (~1 1/8”-1 5/8” diameter)
silicone pastry bag (optional, if piping)
large 8 or 9-point star tip (optional, if piping; something like this)
Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cup cake and pastry flour
1 tbsp advieh
1/2 tbsp vanilla paste
1 tbsp cane sugar or turbinado sugar + 1/4 tsp advieh, for sprinkling the tops of the butter cookies
Method
Using a whisk or an electric mixer, cream the butter, the icing sugar, the vanilla paste, the advieh, and the salt until pale and fluffy—about 5 minutes.
Sift the corn starch onto the creamed flavoured butter and sugar mixture. Whisk again until airy and fluffy.
Sift the cake and pastry flour over the aerated butter mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the butter. Take care not to overwork the flour, but continue to fold until the cake flour has been fully incorporated into the aerated butter.
Use a cookie scoop and portion out the dough onto a tray fitted with parchment paper. Alternatively, if you feel up to the challenge, pipe the dough into an upward spiral—about 3 layers— then push the tip towards the dough before lifting the piping tip off the cookie. The diameter of your piped dough should just be shy of 2 inches, and should roughly be about an inch tall.
Combine 1 tablespoon of cane sugar or turbinado sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of advieh and sprinkle the tops of the butter cookies with this spice and sugar mixture.
Preheat your oven to 300°F (convection) or 350°F (standard).
Freeze the piped or scooped dough solid—for at least half an hour to about an hour. I usually preheat my oven for around 45 minutes while the dough is freezing anyway, just to ensure my oven has reached optimal temperature.
Carefully lay out your frozen dough onto a baking sheet with parchment paper, taking care to leave about 2 to 3 inches of space in between the cookies. The cookies should not be spreading too much, but make sure to leave just enough space in between the cookies anyway.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the baking. Ovens vary; check around the 20 minute mark to make sure your dough isn’t getting too toasty or too dark. You’ll know your cookies are ready when they are just getting the slightest hint of gold on the cookies’ sharp edges.
Leave on the tray to cool completely before enjoying!
I hope this recipe inspires you to seek out spice blends beyond your usual go-to choices, and please go check out Monsoon Coast’s offerings. Right now, they are donating 15% of their sales towards IWAV (Islanders Working Against Violence)—a non-profit based in Salt Spring Island dedicated to providing services to women and children throughout the Southern Gulf Islands affected by violence, abuse, and poverty.
See you back in my kitchen!
xo, Issha