Vivians Almond Cookies Recipes

CHINESE RESTAURANT ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Sift flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together into a bowl. Cut in the lard until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add egg and almond extract. Mix well.
• Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Set them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place an almond on top of each cookie and press down to flatten slightly.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Reserve about 28 almonds (1/4 cup) for garnish. Place remaining almonds in a food processor; pulse just until finely ground (do not overprocess). Set aside.
• With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add whole egg, orange zest, and almond extract (if using), scraping down sides of bowl as necessary; beat until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter mixture,beating just until incorporated. Mix in ground almonds (do not overmix).
• Using 1 level tablespoon per cookie, roll dough into balls. Place on prepared sheets, at least 1 inch apart. Using the floured end of a thick wooden spoon handle (or your thumb), press lightlyin the center of each cookie. Place an almond in each indentation. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg white with 1 teaspoon water; brush over cookies.
• Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly; transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

DONNA'S COCONUT ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat butter, shortening, and sugar in a bowl until creamy. Mix almond and vanilla extracts and salt into creamed mixture. Gradually beat in flour until smooth. Stir coconut into dough.
• Scoop up dough by heaping tablespoonfuls, roll into balls, and arrange about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Dip the bottom of a glass in flour and press cookies 1/4 inch thick.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 2 or 3 minutes before removing cookies.
• While cookies are baking, heat half the chocolate chips in a small bowl in a microwave oven for 30 seconds; stir. Repeat steps, heating and stirring until chocolate chips are melted, smooth, and warm. Place remaining chocolate chips into melted chocolate and continue heating and stirring until all chips are melted and just warm. Transfer melted chocolate to a resealable plastic sandwich bag. Snip a small corner off the bag with a scissors.
• Hold the bag like a pastry bag and squeeze a thin line of melted chocolate onto warm cookies in a zigzag pattern. Transfer cookies to cooling racks to let the chocolate harden, about 30 minutes.

COUSIN DONNA'S ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and ground almonds with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. In another bowl, stir together flour and salt. With electric mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture.
• Shape dough into tablespoon-size balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until the bottoms have browned (the tops of the cookies will remain a light color.) Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Mix cinnamon, nutmeg and powdered sugar. Dip tops of cookies into mixture.

ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream the shortening, 1/2 cup sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Shape into 1-in. balls. Roll in remaining sugar. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with the bottom of a glass. Press three almond slices into the center of each. , Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

CHINESE ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt together into a large bowl. Whisk any bits of almond flour left in the sifter into the sifted flour mixture.
• Combine the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the almond extract and 1 egg yolk and beat until the mixture is smooth and combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Reduce the speed to medium low, add the flour mixture and beat until no streaks of flour remain, about 2 minutes.
• Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• When ready to bake, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Whisk together the remaining egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Scoop the dough by tablespoons (you can use a 1/2-ounce ice cream scoop) and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Roll each scoop into a ball and return it to the baking sheet. Flatten each with your palm into a 2-inch round. Gently press an almond onto each and brush with the egg wash.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown on the edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 10 minutes.
• Store the cookies in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

CHINESE ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream butter, lard, and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and almond extract and continue beating until smooth.
• Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together, and stir into butter mixture. Knead a bit with your hands to make a stiff, smooth dough.
• Form dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, and place 3 inches apart on a buttered baking sheet. Flatten with the palm of your hand, and center a whole almond on each cookie. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned on bottom but very pale on top. Cool on racks.

DIVINE MOLDED ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• NOTE: After the dough is made, I cut it in half and use the butter wrapper to keep the dough from drying out when I'm rolling the dough into balls. The dough will feel very gritty, as if there were sand in the dough. When you roll each ball, it will be ready to be stamped when the grittiness disappears and the dough is very soft and pliable. I only use enough dough so that when it is stamped down, the stamp completely covers the cookie.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Measure out the almond paste. Take it manually out of the measuring cup and tear it into tiny bits of almond paste, about the size of the pad on your thumb. Scatter it around the soft butter.
• Beat butter and almond paste in a medium-sized bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. This will not mix "by hand". It takes the beaters to pulverize the almond paste enough to mix it into the dough.
• Beat in sugar.
• Stir in flour with a wooden spoon. If necessary, knead in remaining flour with your hands. The dough initially appears very crumbly. However, the heat from your hands when you knead it and then roll each ball makes it very smooth and workable. Once dough is made, divide into two equal parts and cover with the butter wrappers to keep pliable and moist while you roll out each ball.
• Stamped Cookie instructions:.
• Form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll dough into your hands until it feels very pliable. At first, it will feel very gritty but the warmth from your hands will blend the butter and almond paste. When it feels smooth like Playdoh, it is ready to be stamped.
• Arrange balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheets 3 inches apart.
• Using a 1.5 inch or 2 inch cookie stamp dipped into granulated sugar, press firmly into each cookie to flatten dough and make patterns on the top.
• NOTE: When I use a stamp at first, I will touch dough to it to transfer "fat" onto the surface so the sugar will stick. Then, after each and every cookie that is stamped, place the stamper back into a shallow dish of sugar so it is coated each time.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or only until the edges become the slightest shade of light brown. It takes a long time for these cookies to bake; begin checking for the slight brown edges after 10 minutes.
• Slide cookies off of the baking sheet, onto your counter, still attached to the parchment paper. Allow to cool 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• NOTE: These are one of the BEST keeping cookies that I've ever made. I had "misplaced" some of these in the kitchen for a month, opened the container they were stored in and was ready to toss them. DH stopped me, tried one and exclaimed, "They're as great as the day you first made them!".
• If you have the time and really want to amp up the volume on these cookies, you can use a small brush and apply cookie paint or cookie glitter to the raised surfaces of the cookie.

VIVIAN'S ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl -- set aside.
• Cream shortening and sugar.
• Add egg and extract.
• Add dry ingredients to shortening mix.
• Make into balls and flatten with hand or botom of cup.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.