My year end baking has been restricted to the minimum this time. We’re going to be travelling a bit the last weeks of December. In fact, I’m on holiday right now. I did bake a few cookies though before we left including these Crisp Almond Cookies. I will be baking a lot more in the New Year when I shall play a slightly late secret Santa to some friends. That’s a story and recipes I’ll be sharing a little later.
For now, let’s get to my Crisp Almond Cookies. They’re probably not your typical Christmas cookies but they’re so good. Take my word for it especially as I’m generally not much of a cookie eater. They’re not cute, decorated or full of spices as many are. In my book though, any good cookie is a festive cookie and you can never have too many cookies at Christmas.
I made these as my daughter wanted some to share with her colleagues at work. These Crisp Almond Cookies are easy to make, and good to eat with bits of almond in every bite. That’s definitely two reasons to make it good enough to bake for Christmas. In fact, I’d say those are the reasons why you should bake them any time you want to.
There’s marginally a little more work to these cookies but it’s not much and worth the effort. Toast and chop the almonds. You also need to chill the cookie dough for about half an hour to an hour. This makes the dough easier to handle. That’s about it.
Other than that, there’s very little to do. The dough comes together in one bowl. You can use a hand held beater to cream the butter-sugar mixture. I just use a wooden spoon! No rolling out and cutting out here. Just roll the dough into small balls, flatten them a bit with your fingers and bake.
I like to toast the almonds I use for these cookies. You don’t have to but it makes all the difference in taste and texture. You can use blanched almonds if you prefer. I like to use the ones with the skin because they add colour to the cookies. It also is more work to blanch almonds and this recipe doesn’t need it. I’m also all about easy recipes most of the time.
Crisp Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 100 gm unsalted butter soft at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup almonds
Instructions
- Start by lightly toasting the whole almonds either in the oven or stove top. I use those with the skin on. Once they’re cool, coarsely chop them and keep aside.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Lightly whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and the salt and mix this well into the creamed mixture. Add the chopped almonds as well and mix well. Cover and chill the dough for about half an hour to an hour till it becomes easy to handle.
- Pinch off 1” bits of dough and shape into balls. Place them about 2” apart on lightly greased pr parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly by pressing with your fingers.
- Bake them at 180C (350F) for about 10 minutes or till they’re done and golden brown in colour. Let them cool on the cookie sheets for a couple of minutes. Then gently transfer to wire racks. Let them cool completely. They will bea bit soft when they come out of the oven but will crisp up when cool.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
These look delicious!
Thank you, Karly
Thank you Aparna for this delicious cookie recipe! Made it and everyone loved it !
My pleasure. Happy the recipe worked great for you.