Chinese Almond Cookies

I need to stop going to the Gardena 99 Ranch.  Their bakery section sucks.  There were packaged almond cookies, but no fresh.  And no egg custard tarts, again.  Fine, off to the internet in search of an "authentic" recipe.

I actually found several good ones by immigrants or second-generation Chinese cooks.  I'm going with the one from Table for Two because I had all the ingredients and didn't need to find almond paste, which is in several versions.

The process for almond cookies isn't that different from regular sugar cookies.  Mix, chill, shape, bake.  The extra step of brushing with an egg wash is primarily an aesthetic thing.  You can skip it if you really, really want to, but that golden color and cracked texture won't happen.

I could tell from the recipe that these would be good, but I didn't realize that they were going to be exactly like the ones you get in a Chinese restaurant or bakery.  Crisp, a little messy when they crumble, and not overly sweet.  Just the right amount of almond flavor without hitting you over the head with it.  In a word, excellent.

*1-1/3 C almond flour
1 C unsalted butter, cut in cubes
1/8 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs
*1 tsp almond extract
1-3/4 C flour
1 C + 2 Tb sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
sliced almonds for garnish

1.  In mixer with the paddle, cream together almond flour, salt, and butter until smooth and fluffy.  Beat in one egg and almond extract.

2.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and baking soda.  Scrape down mixer and add flour to it.  Stir to combine, scrape down again, and stir until flour is incorporated.  It will look like a crumbly dough.

3.  Pour dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper.  Form into a disc and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

4.  Line baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.  Beat other egg to make an egg wash.  Preheat oven to 325º.

5.  Form dough into 1" balls and space 2" apart on the sheets.  The unbaked dough balls can be frozen for up to a month, but one beaten egg is just enough to coat all of them, so you might as well bake them and freeze the finished product instead.  Press each ball lightly into a disc.  Brush with the egg wash, then top with a slice of almond lightly pressed into the top.

6.  Bake 15-17 minutes, until lightly browned on the top but not burned on the bottom.  Let rest on the baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  Cooled cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2 weeks or frozen, because this makes a lot.

Makes 4 dozen

Difficulty rating :)