Yield: four dozen cookies
Recipe: 167/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 35
I made these cookies a few weeks ago but somehow am just now getting around to posting about them. This is a nice recipe, but for some reason I had issues piping them into the traditional shape. In fact, I could not pipe them at all! I double-checked the recipe to make sure I didn’t add too much of an ingredient, but I’m quite sure I didn’t. My prime suspect now is my almond butter which was quite old, but I made sure to mix it very thoroughly so I don’t know why that would have changed the texture of the dough. In any case, I almost gave up on these cookies but in the end I decided to just make them like normal cookies and add a little pattern with a fork. And I am glad that I did.
These cookies are very delicious. Buttery, almost like shortbread cookies with a perfect balance of almond and vanilla extract. It can be dangerously easy to put too much of a pure extract and ruin a dessert but this was not the case here. Very easy to eat and to enjoy! I strongly recommend this recipe. I myself will most likely attempt it again with new almond butter to try to get the desired shape.
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup room temperature, well-stirred , pure almond butter
- ⅓ cup icing sugar, sifted
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Beat the cream cheese to soften it, then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter, almond butter and icing sugar together until fluffy.
- Beat in the egg yolk and extracts.
- Reduce the speed to medium-low and add in the flour and salt, mixing until evenly blended. The dough will be soft.
- Spoon the cookie dough into a piping bag fitted with a small star tip, or into a cookie press, and pipe cookies about ¾ inch across and with one-inch space between them.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just lightly browned around the edges. Cool the cookies on the trays and store them in an airtight container. The cookies will keep for up to 5 days.
Happy baking!
Valerie
Valerie 