Chinese Almond Cookies

Although I didn’t grow up with the tradition of making Christmas cookies, I am certainly not opposed to the idea of eating them! I’ve always been fascinated by how early everyone starts their preparations, especially considering fresh-baked seems like the way to go. Turns out, some recipes even require being made weeks in advance!

These almond cookies are not on that list, but they do suggest making a large batch, then popping them in the freezer for future use. That’s kind of the same thing, right?

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what constitutes a Christmas cookie, other than a few traditional ones. Could it really be any kind that sounds good to you? I hope so, considering that’s how I landed on these for the party I’m bringing them to next week! (Besides, Jews typically order Chinese food on Dec 25th, so these cookies seemed pretty appropriate coming from me!) I absolutely love all things almond, so these soft, buttery, chewy, super-addictive ones were right up my alley.

The batter is supposed to make about 48 cookies, but I opted to shape them with my ice cream scoop so I only got 22. Totally up to you how big you want to make them. They seem really tiny otherwise!

Ingredients:

*From Land O Lakes Recipe Collection cookbook*

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

48 whole blanched almonds (I used sliced instead)

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoon water

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350° and combine sugar and butter in large bowl.

Beat at medium speed until creamy.

Add egg.

Pour in almond extract.

Beat until well mixed.

Reduce speed to low and add flour,

Baking powder,

And salt.

Beat until incorporated.

Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. (Or use an ice cream scooper for larger cookies), then place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Flatten slightly, pressing an almond into the center of each.

Beat egg yolk with water in a small bowl.

Brush cookies with egg mixture.

Bake for 11-15 minutes, or until just set.

Eat and enjoy this holiday season!

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