Almond Vanilla Cookies

Dorel's Note:

Don't let all the vanilla scare you away. These are excellent cookies. Very nutty and delicately sweet. A fine finish to a heavy or spicy meal. To add a unique taste substitute the vanilla with 1 tablespoon of gin. The original recipe stated that. I have never tried it.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 36 cookies

• 1 2/3 cups ground almonds (use food prosessor but be careful as you don't want to end up with paste)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 36 whole almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° and cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together chopped almonds, flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Mix in extracts Mix in flour mixture until well blended Beat until thoroughly combined.
5. Form dough into 36 balls and place a whole almond in center of each ball.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown, check after 15 minutes as I found I needed to turn the temperature down for the second batch.
7. Note: I baked my second batch at 325° but it could just be my oven that runs hot.

Reviews

[qotw13]

I don't know if I was just expecting something very different from what this actually is, or if I did something wrong, but these did not turn out well at all. I didn't grind the almonds into a fine powder, as I wanted some texture. But otherwise, I followed this exactly, and ended up with some very hard cookies that really don't taste that great. On the first sheet of cookies, I used the almond on top, and then the next couple, I flattened with a sugar-coated fork. And I only baked them for about 15 mins. Not sure what the deal was, but I'll be looking elsewhere for an almond cookie. Sorry!

[marienith]

The most delicious cookie I have ever made. I only make half just to try it, but tomorrow i'm going to make the whole recipe again because we love it. If you like almond cookies this is the right recipe for you.

[AmyJoV3]

Absolutely delicious. I made these as holiday gifts for my neighbors. How can you go wrong with almonds and vanilla - two of my favorite flavors?