Almond Buttercream Sandwich Cookies Recipes

ALMOND BUTTERCREAM SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Make cookie dough by blending cookie mix, butter and egg as called for on package, flour and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract until soft dough forms.
• Roll dough into about 84 (1/2-inch) balls. Roll each ball in white decorator sugar. Place balls 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool; place cookies on cooling racks.
• Beat powdered sugar, butter, milk and almond extract on low speed until smooth and creamy. Spread about 1 teaspoon filling on 1 cookie. Top with second cookie; press together gently. Immediately roll edge of cookie in sprinkles. Store in refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• For the sandwich cookies: In a large bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut sugar and butter. Using a handheld mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, baking soda, almond extract, salt and eggs and mix to combine. Fold in the oats and mini chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Scoop 15 heaping tablespoon-size rounds of dough 1 inch apart on each prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the cookies are just set around the edges and still soft in the middle, 10 to 11 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, cocoa powder and salt. Using a handheld mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling on the flat side of half of the cooled cookies. Sandwich the remaining half of the cookies, flat side against the filling. Store in the refrigerator and remove 30 minutes before serving.

EASY VALENTINE SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together butter and confectioners' sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix well.
• In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the butter mixture. Divide dough into thirds and shape into balls.
• Working with 1/3 of dough at a time, roll out dough into desired thickness on a lightly floured surface. For each heart sandwich cookie, cut out 2 3-inch hearts. Cut out the center of ONE of the 3-inch hearts with the 1 1/2-inch cutter.
• Place each piece separately on an ungreased cookie sheet, 1 - 2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated, 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until lightly browned (7-8 minutes for 1/4 inch thick cookies). Cool completely on wire rack. Frost bottom cookie with Pink Valentine Frosting and place an open centered cookie on top to form the sandwich. Also frost the small 1 1/2 inch hearts and serve as separate cookies.

CHEWY ALMOND-RASPBERRY SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Place almonds in center of third (unlined) rimmed baking sheet, forming 1/4-inch-thick layer.
• Finely grind almond paste, 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon in processor. Add egg whites; process until well blended. Transfer dough to large resealable plastic bag. Press dough down into 1 corner of bag. Using scissors, snip off corner, leaving 1/2-inch opening. Working in batches, squeeze dough from bag in 2 1/2-inch-long strips atop almonds on sheet. Sprinkle some of loose almonds on sheet over strips; carefully roll strips in almonds to coat lightly (dough will be soft and sticky). Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing apart.
• Bake cookies until light golden brown, reversing position of sheets halfway through baking, about 12 minutes. Let cookies stand on sheets 5 minutes; transfer to rack. Sift powdered sugar over cookies.
• Simmer jam in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until jam is bubbling thickly, about 30 seconds. Cool.
• Spread 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon jam over bottom of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, bottom side down. Transfer sandwich to plate. Repeat with remaining cookies and jam. DO AHEAD: can be made 3 weeks ahead. Store airtight in freezer. Bring to room temperature before serving.

ALMOND SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in flour and almond extract until well blended.
• Shape dough into 180 (1/2-inch) balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press bottom of glass dipped into granulated sugar on each ball until 1/4 inch thick; prick top of each with a fork.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes until set but not brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy. Spread about 1 teaspoon filling on bottoms of half of the cookies. Top each with another cookie, bottom side down; press gently. Store in refrigerator.

BROWN-BUTTER TOFFEE SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies: In a food processor, process the toffee bits, sugar, baking soda and salt until the toffee is mostly ground and the mixture is sandy, about 1 minute.
• Transfer the toffee mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Add butter, egg white and vanilla. Mix together with the paddle attachment on medium until creamy and fluffy, stopping once to scrape the bowl and paddle, about 2 minutes. Add flour, and mix on medium-low until the mixture comes together into a soft dough, about 30 seconds.
• Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a disk. (If the dough is very soft, wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes before proceeding.) Line three sheet trays with parchment paper.
• Dust the counter and dough with flour. Working with one piece of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out until just under ⅛-inch thick (the thickness of two stacked pennies), turning the dough frequently to ensure it moves freely on the counter and dusting with more flour as needed. Each sheet of dough will be about the size of a standard sheet of paper.
• Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter dusted in flour, cut out cookies from one sheet of dough. Using an offset spatula, transfer rounds to a prepared sheet tray, leaving about ½ inch of space between cookies.
• Repeat with the remaining sheet of dough. Gather and knead together any scraps, reroll and repeat until all the dough has been rolled out for a total of 72 cookies. Freeze on sheet trays for at least 30 minutes before baking. (Alternatively, once the cookies have firmly frozen, stack them between parchment in a freezer-safe container or zipper-lock bag for up to 3 months.)
• Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and evenly brush on the tops of half of the chilled cookies. Sprinkle the yolk-brushed cookies with almonds, pressing gently to adhere. Bake the first two trays of cookies until deeply browned like a pretzel, switching the sheet trays from top to bottom and rotating from front to back halfway through, 10 to 14 minutes. Repeat with the third and final batch. Let cookies cool completely on sheet trays.
• Once the cookies are cool, make the icing: Set a piping bag in a tall and narrow container, like a deli quart container, and fold over the top edge to secure. Flip over the cookies without almonds. (You need to pipe the icing onto the cookies immediately after mixing, so make sure you are set up.)
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter until foamy, about 3 minutes. Continue cooking butter, stirring and scraping frequently with a stiff silicone spatula, until the sputtering has subsided and the butter solids look deeply browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the butter and any brown bits into the bowl of a stand mixer (or into a large bowl if mixing by hand).
• Stir in the vanilla and salt. Sift over the powdered sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix on low until creamy and combined, about 1 minute, stopping once during mixing to scrape the bowl and the paddle. (You can also mix with a stiff silicone spatula until creamy and combined.)
• Transfer the icing to the piping bag and cut a 1-inch wide opening at the tip. Pipe a scant tablespoon of filling onto a flipped cookie and immediately top with an almond-topped cookie. Gently press to adhere so that the filling reaches the edges of the cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

ALMOND-SHORTBREAD SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until noticeably darkened and fragrant, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack; let cool completely.
• Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Measure 1 1/2 cups almonds into a medium bowl; set remainder aside. Add flour and salt to bowl; whisk to combine.
• In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter with confectioners' sugar until smooth and well combined. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually add almond-flour mixture, beating until dough just comes together (do not overmix). Turn dough out onto a work surface and divide in half. Shape each half into a 12-inch log (about 1 3/4 inches in diameter); wrap each log in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Measure 1/2 cup reserved almonds onto a sheet of parchment; roll each log in nuts to coat. Cut logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices, discarding ends. Transfer slices to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are slightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks; let cool completely.
• Filling: Pulse remaining 3 cups reserved almonds and salt in a food processor on low speed, scraping down sides frequently. Mixture will look dry but continue pulsing until it reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency, 15 to 20 minutes.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together 1 cup almond butter (reserve remaining 1/2 cup for another use), confectioners' sugar, and butter until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip.
• Pipe a small amount of filling onto bottoms of half the cookies, then sandwich with remaining cookies. Filled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

BUTTER ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the well beaten egg, almonds, sugar, brandy, spices and flour. Mix until mixture is well combined.
• On a lightly floured surface roll the mixture to 1/4 inch thick and cut with round cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned.