Middle-Earth Menu: “Nori’s Nutmeggers”

“Nori’s Nutmeggers” by Astrid Tuttle Winegar

The purple-hooded Nori is another one of those expendable dwarves. Robert Foster’s Complete Guide to Middle-earth sums him up as a member of the House of Durin and a member of Thorin and Company. That’s it. He apparently plays the flute. I believe he does not have any lines, but you can correct me if I’m wrong about that. He definitely has quite an elaborate beard and hairstyle, at least in Jackson’s films…

“Nori’s Nutmeggers”

½ cup soft salted butter
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 extra large egg, room temperature
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon plus ½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
36 nice pecan halves

Preheat oven to 375°. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray or grease lightly. In a large bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, and egg until creamy. Add the flour, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, soda, and salt and combine well. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and ½ teaspoon nutmeg. Roll dough into 36 balls, about 1¼” in diameter. Roll each in the sugar/nutmeg mixture. Place on sheets 1½” apart. Set a pecan half on top of each. Bake 7-9 minutes. Cool on pans 1 minute; remove to racks. Store covered at room temperature. Makes 36.

These are called Hrist’s Nutmeggers in my cookbook. If you have extra nutmeg sugar, use it as you would cinnamon sugar—it’s great sprinkled over hot cereal or buttered toast.

Astrid Tuttle Winegar

Astrid Tuttle Winegar is the author of Cooking for Halflings & Monsters: 111 Comfy, Cozy Recipes for Fantasy-Loving Souls, which is currently available exclusively in e-book form on the Amazon Kindle, but will soon be released by Oloris Publishing! Stay tuned for details. For now, she is mostly telling a culinary Middle-earth story here on Legendarium. Astrid has loved C. S. Lewis since childhood, J. R. R. Tolkien since middle and high school, all Star things, both Trek and Wars, all things Whedon, and many other things besides… She lives in the enchanted city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband and dog. She blogs occasionally at . You can check out (and like!) her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/astridtuttlewinegar or visit her Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/astridwinegar.