This was a recipe I adapted to really boost the almond flavor with almond flour. Almond flour is made from blanching almonds to remove the skin. Then the almonds are ground and sifted to create a fine flour. Almond flour is incredibly nutritious as it is high in vitamin E and magnesium.

For most recipes, almond flour can replace wheat or AP flour on a 1:1 ratio. I would not use almond flour exclusively for baking, however because of the slightly denser texture. For this cookie recipe, I wanted not only a stronger almond flavor to come through on the cookie but I wanted a lighter tasting cookie which I feel this recipe accomplishes. I did not use exclusively almond flour but substituted half of the AP flour from the original recipe for almond flour.

*Tip* This recipe made 2 dozen cookies and only calls for 1 cup of almond flour. The almond flour in this recipe is an important ingredient. Unless you cook with almond flour on a regular basis, I suggest purchasing it in the bulk food section of your grocery store. I find the bulk food section is a great way to save bucks when I am unsure of how to use a whole pound of an ingredient and hesitate to buy it because the packaged quantity is much larger than I need for a single recipe. Also, the bulk food section is a great way to experiment and cook with ingredients that you may not have tried before without buying a large amount.

Something else extra in this cookie recipe that I added was a full Tablespoon of fresh orange zest. You will need a zesting tool for this which is a very inexpensive tool found at almost any store where kitchen utensils are sold. An extra fine grater or microplane is also perfect. You want the zest to be extremely thin so as only to add flavor to the cookie, not texture, per se.

Lastly, this cookie is unique in that it has a very light egg wash on top. This creates a magnificent shine as well as adds to the slight chew when you bite into it. I tried egg washing the cookie before and after adding the almond garnish. I liked the look of the cookie egg washed before the almond garnish is added because I liked the contrast of the white almonds on top of the yellowish cookie. Flavor wise or texture wise I did not notice a difference with the egg wash before or after adding the almonds. Be sure to use a kitchen marinade brush for this step to get the light coating of egg on top of the cookie without any puddles or pools of egg on the cookie.

For a fancy looking cookie that is great tasting and easily made, try this one.

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Almond & Orange Cookie

A soft and chewy bright almond cookie with orange zest for a light and citrusy flavor that compliments almost any meal.

Servings 12 people

Chef Julie Chef Julie

Ingredients

½ cup butter softened
¾ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp almond extract use the real extract for best results
1 Tablespoon orange zest use a zester, microplane or fine grater for this step
1 1/4 cup AP Flour
1 cup Almond Flour
½ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Egg Wash

1 large egg
1 tsp water
2 oz sliced thin almond pieces for garnish optional

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment and spray with non stick cooking spray
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar with a hand mixer or paddle mixer on low speed until creamy. approx. 30 seconds.
Add 1 egg and almond flavoring to the butter and sugar mixture and mix again for 15 seconds until creamy and incorporated.
With a rubber spatula, fold in the orange zest into the butter and sugar mixture.
In a separate medium sized bowl, mix together the almond flour, the AP flour, the salt, and the baking powder.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture in batches beating for 10 seconds at a time to incorporate the mixture.
After the flour is incorporated, beat the mixture for an additional 5 seconds to make sure everything is fully incorporated.
This dough can be covered and refridgerated to be baked within 3 days if necessary.
Create about 10 cookies per cookie sheet by rolling the cookies about half palm size and slightly flattening them on the cookie sheet by pressing down with palm or a spoon. Make the cookie the same thickness all the way around.
Crack the last egg into a small bowl and add the water. Whisk with a fork to break the yoke and combine with the water. With a pastry brush, brush a very light coating of the egg onto the cookie.
Add a few pieces of the sliced almonds for garnish onto the egg washed cookie.
Bake on the top rack of the oven for 12 minutes. Let the cookie cool for 2 to 3 minutes before removing it from the baking sheet pan. It will crumble if you try to remove it right after it’s out of the oven.
Finish cooling on a wire baking rack. Store cooled cookies in an air tight container. Enjoy!

This recipe has been adapted from Land o’ Lakes and can be found here.
https://www.landolakes.com/recipe/17120/chinese-almond-cookies/

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