Almond Cookie

In the first year after our marriage, we had to relocate to Connecticut, USA owing to his work disposition. If my isolation back in Hyderabad was anything to go by, then it just got doubled up at Connecticut. Luckily for me we had taken up an apartment next to this mall & whenever my breadwinner was away at his office, I used to sneak away to the mall once in a while. It was during one of these sneak attacks that I came across a store called Cookie Mania. While I was munching on a walnut cookie, my attention was drawn towards this creamy colored almond cookie which had a brown tear shape for topping. Once back home, I ran the usual Google research & ended up with my own take on the Almond Cookie.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

½ cup finely chopped almonds

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

½ cup butter (1 stick) softened

5 tbsp. granulated sugar. Divided

2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar/ powdered sugar

1 tbsp.  Vanilla essence

1 tbsp. almond essence (optional)

20 whole almonds

In a bowl, combine flour, chopped almonds, cinnamon and salt and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar.

Add vanilla essence (almond essence if using). Stir in the flour mixture, mix until just combined.

Preheat oven to 350 °F/ 180 °C

Shape the cookie dough to form balls. (You can use a tablespoon to level) Place on a cookie sheet, spacing 1 inch apart.

Gently press 1 almond into the center of each ball. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar over cookies.

Bake 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and cool cookies 3 minutes on cookie sheet and transfer them to a wire rack and cool   completely. This gives a serving portion of up to 20 cookies. This would be the best bet for those little nibbles that we usually go after in between meals!!