more cookie doing
Recipe: almond crunch cookies
Whenever I read the word doing I think of it as doing – as in sounds like boing. Anyway, you get another cookie recipe today because I made a veritable boat load of cookies yesterday. I really enjoy holiday baking except when I have surgery and then a head cold right before the holidays. I had to wait until I was fully well enough to 1) bake and 2) not make everything all nasty and sick because that would be a really unkind token of appreciation.
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or you could pay considerably more $ for a straight purchase or persevere years of medical training and slice me open like my surgeon to get one. Uh, the raffle ticket is the definite no brainer.
So it was only a few posts back that I was raving about almond extract. Almonds are just about my favorite nut. Oh wait, I like hazelnuts too. And pistachios… and pine nuts… It really does rank up there for me. During my stint in Ithaca, New York, there was a bakery across the gorge from the geology department. I spent many a morning, afternoon, evening, and night walking over to grab sustenance. I gauged that a cookie could last me another hour of work, a bagel was good for 3 hours. They had these delightful almond crescent cookies half-dipped in dark chocolate that I would sometimes get for Jeremy on our mile walk home. Ever the baker, it wasn’t long before I began to think, “Why the #%@# am I paying $1.50 for a cookie when I could make this myself?” As graduate students, we were just above the poverty line. I called the bakery for the recipe and they gave me some bullshit reply like, “Oh, it has almonds, sugar, and egg whites in it.” What the hell kind of recipe is that?!
i know what goes in those cookies now
I searched through all of my recipe books, and you won’t believe where I found it. Mrs. Fields Cookie Book. Yup – the lady with the hair and the franchise! Perfect. Thank you, Debbie. Although Debbie likes the use of salted butter, I do not. I use unsalted butter and will add salt if necessary.
mix in ground almonds
I generally prefer to use skinned almonds when I have to ground them. I discovered that my store of skinned almonds was depleted, so I used whole almonds with skins. I know you can skin them by baking them briefly and then wrapping them in a towel to sweat them and then pop the almonds out of the skin. I’ve done it before and swore a lot. It’s actually much easier than skinning hazelnuts, which doesn’t mean that skinning almonds is so easy, but that skinning hazelnuts can turn you homicidal. I mean to say: the skins do not detract from the overall loveliness of the cookie.
roll in sliced almonds
You would be surprised at how much of the sliced almonds you go through when you roll the dough balls. Just make sure you have enough and then some.
bakie bakie
A nice finishing touch is to drizzle dark chocolate glaze or dip in dark chocolate glaze. I didn’t do any of that, but I have in the past and it works fine. Debbie Fields lists her own dark chocolate glaze, but I prefer straight melted (tempered, if you will) good quality dark chocolate to her glaze. The recipe doesn’t yield a lot, so I typically double or quadruple it.
so nutty!
Almond Crunch Cookies
[print recipe]
Mrs. Fields Cookie Book
1/2 cup salted butter, softened (Jen uses unsalted and didn’t add salt to this recipe)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
1/4 cup (1 oz.) almonds, ground in a food processor
1 cup flour
1 cup (4 oz.) sliced almonds
glaze
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
2 tsps light corn syrup
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend butter and sugar to a grainy paste. Mix in egg and almond extract and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add ground almonds and flour and blend at low speed until just combined, taking care not to overmix. For dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll in sliced almonds. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies are golden along the edges. Remove and set on cooling rack.
Make the glaze: Scald cream in small saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Gently mix glaze until smooth, careful not to introduce too much air into the chocolate. When cookies are cool, drizzle or dip the cookies while glaze is warm. Refrigerate on waxed paper until glaze has set, about 10 minutes.
Makes 1 1/2 dozen.
December 21st, 2007 at 7:53 pm
These super almondy cookies sound really good. Nice photos!
December 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Those are really cute! I love cookies that are decorated with things that aren’t too … store-ish. Know what I mean? Natural, I guess you’d say! Merry Christmas!
December 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I just made these last night. I made a mistake and added 4 oz ground almonds to the recipe instead of 1. It was the best mistake. So I made a second dough, mixed the two and then proceeded to bake rolled in more almonds. The cookies were/are delicious and are very crunchy!
December 27th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Kevin – thanks! The cookies are awesome if you like almonds.
Abby – yup, I know *exactly* what you mean. Most of the time I decorate with things that aren’t too store-ish because I am too lazy to go and find them, ha ha ha! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too :)
Aleks – Hurray! I’m so glad you like them. If you want them to be less crunchy, you can try reducing the baking time. I haven’t fooled around with it too much. I had better luck with crunchy outside/chewy inside when I lived at sea-level ;)
January 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Is it true that the recipe really contains no baking powder or baking soda? Or is that your adjustment for the altitude?
I think your blog is beautiful. And tasty.
January 1st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Mary – thanks, you’re so sweet. I just double checked (because there are times when I omit baking powder/soda but it’s in the recipe) and this one actually does not contain any baking pow/soda! That’s probably why I gave it a try :)
December 13th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Have explored the site more, and now love you! This site is amazing. Thanks so much for writing it all out (plus awesome photos). I would suggest publishing (because this is o so worthy) but I rather enjoy getting it all for free.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
BA – thanks.
December 29th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
A year later… I made them again on Christmas eve. :)
April 25th, 2009 at 9:17 am
I was thrilled to try the recipe… and the taste really stands up to the beautiful mouthwatering pictures you took of them !
only mistake, I tought maybe the cookie after the said cooking time was not done, so I continued baking… however just later I realized that the cookie by cooling would harden enough and stay soft in the middle. Even tought they are a bit on the hard side, they do taste a bit like biscotti on the outside, and like cookie on the inside mmmmm yummy !
April 25th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Aleks – sweet.
Kirsa – thanks! I’m happy that you enjoyed them, even if on the crunchy side. I just love almonds :)
April 28th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I can confirm you that my coworkers didn’t mind if they were on the crunchy side, however !
but in the end, I assumed that, but I guess they do stay chewhy on the inside right ?
(and I love the fact you even reply to older recipes !)
April 28th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Kirsa – usually co-workers aren’t as picky as we cooks and bakers, right? That’s why they make such good guinea pigs!
September 27th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
These look delicious! I wanted to bake something for a huge almond lover. These fit the bill and I’ll be baking them in a few days!
Any information on how well the dough keeps? I imagine it shouldn’t affect the end product too adversely if I refrigerate the dough for 24 hours?
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:23 am
Bunny – probably 24 hours should be fine.
May 4th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Jen, how did you manage to roll them into such uniform and pretty rounds?! I know part of it is because of your OCD nature ;) I think my palms are too warm cuz they go all soft once they land in my palms!
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Mrs Ergul – I think I refrigerate the dough so it’s easier to roll. My palms are also very warm :)
June 8th, 2010 at 4:49 am
I see I see! noted thanks!
February 9th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Hi, I’m going to try the recipe this weekend..it looks fantastic! Since you have omitted the salt because of the butter, how much salt are we suppose to put in if using unsalted butter?
February 9th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Nimx – I used unsalted butter and didn’t add any salt, but I’d guess 1/4 to 1/2 tsp depending on how you like it (taste the dough if you aren’t squeamish).
February 15th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Thanks! :)
December 14th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
Been making them for years at Christmas. Best in the world!!