Harness the aroma of the holidays with orange and cardamom

[...] baking around the holidays brings the added warmth from knowing there will be more occasions and more people in the house to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

There is magic at this time of year in the combination of nuts, citrus and dried fruits, though this is the sort of recipe that invites you to mess with it.

If you wish, add dried apricots instead of dates, or white chocolate instead of pistachios, or cinnamon instead of cardamom.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

2 cups all-purpose flour

Divide the dough into 2 portions, then roll each piece into a log about 2 inches in diameter.

Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2-inch rounds from each log, then arrange them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.

Nutrition information per cookie: 150 calories; 80 calories from fat (53 percent of total calories); 9 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 20 mg cholesterol; 10 mg sodium; 17 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 2 g protein.