Almond Crusted Shortbread Cookies, Simple and effortless yet sophisticated cookies for the holidays or anytime you want an excellent almond cookie. This cookie is a marriage between a shortbread and an almond cookie with some sliced almonds to add more crunch topped with a little drizzle of chocolate to be fancy. In all honesty, these cookies are fantastic without the chocolate. Still, they are so beautiful that I wanted to show off what you can do with this cookie.
I’ve been playing around with some variations of an almond shortbread for a little while. But they never seem to taste enough like an almond cookie for me. I wanted more of an almond crunch and toasted almond flavor. I tried just pressing the sliced almonds onto the top of these cookies. The cookies themselves seemed to get overbaked. One of the cookies, however, had some of the almonds on the bottom. The almonds on the cookie toasted up crunchy and delicious. So, I tried pressing the dough balls onto the almonds and placing them almond side down when I baked them. By adding the almonds to the cookie’s bottom, the sliced almonds toasted up nicely and added that toasted almond flavor I was looking for. It may seem that counterintuitive to put the almond side down, but these worked out wonderfully. Because the almonds are on the bottom, they toast up nice and golden while keeping the cookie tender and more delicate. I left the cookies on the baking tray for a few minutes to stabilize and to continue to toast the almonds. And man, these are great cookies.
This recipe for Almond Crusted Shortbread Cookies is very easy to make. There is no chilling, no cutting out, no being careful to place perfectly on the baking sheet. For this recipe, you just cream the butter with the sugar, beat in the egg and flavorings, stir in the flour, and voilà, you have cookie dough. Roll the balls into walnut-sized balls and press into the sliced almonds, and in 10 minutes, you have cookies ready to bake. This is also a recipe that only makes around 22 cookies, so it’s perfect for smaller batches. Of course, you can double this recipe very easily. If you decide to glaze these cookies, just melt some chocolate in the microwave and drizzle it over the tops. Though, they are outstanding without any embellishment.
This is definitely not your usual holiday this year. But I hope you are staying safe and smart and finding some joy and happiness. Please think of others in your choices of what you do and with whom you gather. We will all get through this.
- 8 tablespoons butter; if using unsalted butter add a pinch of salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract or Amaretto
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ cup sifted all-purpose flour plus extra to dust
- 1 cup ground almonds or almond flour
- 1 ½ cups sliced almonds
- 4 oz chopped semi or bittersweet chocolate about ½ cup chocolate chips, optional
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Preheat the oven to 350°
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Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.
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In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
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Beat in the egg, almond, and vanilla extracts.
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Add the flour and ground almonds. Mix until the dough just comes together.
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Spread the sliced almonds on a small plate or tray.
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Roll the dough into 1 inch or walnut-sized balls,
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Press each dough ball into the sliced almonds flattening each ball into a disk, keeping the tops clear of the almonds.
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Place almond side down onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. They will not spread much at all.
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Bake the cookies for about 15 – 18 minutes or until the cookies' edges are barely golden brown.
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Let cool on the baking sheets for 3 or 4 minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks to cool completely.
These cookies are fantastic without the chocolate, but if you want to be fancy, use the following glazing instructions.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave for a few seconds at a time to barely melt the chocolate and stir to make sure the chocolate is melted with no lumps. Be careful not to over melt the chocolate as it will get too hot and might burn. The key here is to keep some chocolate unmelted and to stir it into the melted chocolate to help keep it shiny.
Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. You can either use a spoon or pour the chocolate into a small plastic bag and cut off just the tiny tip of a corner and drizzle the chocolate over the cookies in lines.
