This is one of my favorite cookies. They are the perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and tart. They can be made without the ammonium bicarbonate, which can be bought from specialty cooking stores, or the internet, but they will not be as snappy and you need to roll them quite thin. You can also substitute baking powder if you handle it well.
A note about ammonium bicarbonate: It smells awful… terrible! Like ammonia, because it is… but it dissipates once it is baked and makes a wonderful crispy cookie. This means you should not taste your dough before it is cooked, even though it is totally food safe, it just doesn’t taste very good. Also, you have to make sure it is tightly covered when stored or it will literally just evaporate into the air.
