Dutch Almond Cookies Day 1: 12 Days of Cookies
Light, crispy, crunchy, almond cookies
Ingredients
From Nick Malgieri's Ultimate Cookies
Butter for greasing pan
Da Dry Stuff-Combine and set aside
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 120-125gms/cup
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Da Wet Stuff
- 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 cups whole blanched almonds
Topping:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil; butter foil. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar, granulated sugar and water. Return to heat and bring to boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar melts. Remove from heat and stir in almonds.
- Pour sugar-almond mixture into a large bowl and stir in dry ingredients. Press dough into prepared square pan, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight or until firm.
- About 20 minutes before you are ready to bake cookies, set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
- Prepare topping: thoroughly combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; set aside.
- Unmold the "brick" of cookie dough from the pan and place on cutting board. Cut brick into three bars, each 8-by-2 1/2-by- 1 1/4 inches (bars will be just a little more than 2 1/2-inches wide). Wrap 2 bars in parchment paper, wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate. Cut remaining brick into 1/4-inch thick slices. As you cut cookies, place them on prepared sheets 1 inch apart in all directions.
- Just before putting sheets in oven, sprinkle tops of cookies generously with the cinnamon sugar. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Slide the parchment with the cookies on top onto cooling racks. Cookies will crisp as they cool. Repeat with remaining bars of dough.
- Store cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. If freezing the bar(s), it is best to thaw dough overnight in the refrigerator before slicing and baking.
- Happy baking!