Chinese Almond Cookies

I saw this recipe for Chinese almond cookies and just had to make them. And… everything looked so good before going into the oven, but it ended in disaster. (I baked them a few minutes less than required. Honestly, even if I hadn’t put that many on the baking sheet, it still would have failed, so the problem lies more with the recipe than with the instructions.)

This left me wanting to get it right, obviously. So I searched and found this other recipe, which was much better! You’ll get a total of 21 or 22 cookies. If I make them again, I’ll try adding a tad more flour than I did (maybe 1 ½ cups?) and maybe I’ll set the oven to 350 °F.

1 1/3 cups almond flour, lightly packed
1 cup (2 sticks) lactose-free butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 pinch kosher salt
2 large eggs, divided
1 tsp. almond extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
thinly sliced almonds, for decoration

Place the almond flour, salt, and butter into an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. The mixture will become coarse and chunky looking.

Add one of the eggs and the almond extract; mix them in on low speed until just incorporated.

Sift the flour, sugar, and baking soda and add to the mixture. Mix on low speed until just combined.

Take the dough and flatten it into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator for two hours to chill.

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg.

Take pieces of dough and roll them into balls about ¾ -inch wide. Place them on the sheet about an inch apart and then press them down slightly with your palm to make a coin shape.

Press one silvered almond into the center of each cookie. Then, using a pastry brush or your finger, paint each cookie with the egg. (This will give the cookie a lacquered appearance once it bakes).

Bake at 325 °F for 13 to 15 minutes, until the edges just begin to tan. Cool on the sheet on a wire rack.