Interesting! Maybe I'll include some in my next Amazon order. Nose hairs aren't something I covet (those that are visible anyway) so I'd be OK if I happened to inhale.

That, and the cookies look quite good - good enough to try the recipe....

Morz8, I never thought I had nose hairs until I felt them being disintegrated! LOLAM

Sooz

I have a respirator mask rated for fumes and particulates (though it does come with the warning not to use it in oxygen free environments!). Goggles, too. I'm not sure I want to bake with them, but if they work against bleach, they'll probably work against ammonia. Oh, lordy! Does the bleach evaporate? Or is it stuck in the filters? Maybe ammonia isn't a good idea. Though it was thiox, not actual bleach, bleach...

Maybe I'll just make shortbread. :)

Sooz, those cookies look lovely! Very tempting.

Sooz, I've been interested in bakers ammonia in the past wondering if that's how you get the delicate sort of crunch that Milanos and some other thin crisp commercial cookies have.

Sooz, whatever you used, those look like they'd be perfect with a cup of coffee, yum.

I use several of King Arthur's recipes, I'm usually impressed with them, but I haven't used that recipe. Yet...

Annie

This is really interesting as a dear older friend gave me a recipe years ago for a cookie that has ammonia as one of the ingredients. I just ran onto the recipe last week and was wondering where I would find cooking ammonia. So thanks for that and the cookies do look good!

If you just hold your breath while you unscrew the lid and measure out 1/4 teaspoon of the Baker's Ammonia, and then put the lid on the container and dump that 1/4 teaspoon in with the salt and add the vanilla, per the directions, it'll be fine.

There *is* a faint odor from the raw dough - an odor which dissipates and then disappears when you bake out the Baker's Ammonia. If you have a chance to follow the link, you'll see a couple ways you can make these cookies prettier! They really are delicious!

Vanilla Dreams Recipe

They remind me a bit of these langues de chat. Delicious.

http://cuisine.journaldesfemmes.com/recette/345685-langues-de-chat

Reminds me of High school chemistry testing for unknowns. First thing to do was to uncork it and sniff. Nothing said about gently wafting it under your nose. :-) I took a mighty inhale and got knocked backward against the bench behind. My lab partner helped me up. It was ammonium chloride or some such. 66 years. Clearly remembered. Never repeated.

In the past I have made springerle from recipes that called for it, and some that didn't. Personally, I didn't see the difference. I would order a small container from King Arthur. When I hadn't made any in two years I got the container out and found it empty. I believe I have heard that that powder will evaporate over time.

Just in case someone is wondering, the mask and goggles are real, but the part about bringing them out for baking was a joke. :)

HOW could something so apparently nasty/dangerous be an ingredient in cookies??

From Wikipedia: Ammonium carbonate may be used as a leavening agent in traditional recipes, particularly those from northern Europe and Scandinavia (e.g. Speculoos, Tunnbröd or Lebkuchen). It was the precursor to today's more commonly used baking powder.

It's a natural substance. It's not actually dangerous--over-corsetted and excitable ladies used to sniff it to revive themselves from swooning, or drink it dissolved in water. The chemicals I work with that require the mask, actually are, but not highly, and they're not for eating though they don't smell bad. Lots of nasty smelling things go into foodstuffs.