Preheat the oven to 350°

On a cookie sheet or baking pan, toast the almonds in the oven until they are barely golden around the edges and fragrant, about 8-10 minutes. Be careful. They will go from beautifully toasted to burnt very quickly.

Let them cool and then finely chop them or process them in a food processor until finely chopped, do not over process, as they will go from chopped to almond butter. You will end up with a little over ½ cup finely chopped almonds.

Turn the oven down to 325°

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter until fluffy.

Gradually add ½ cup of the sugar and beat until very light and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Add the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest, and the vanilla.

Beat until thoroughly combined.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour and finely chopped almonds. Or you can do this by hand. The mixture will start by looking like sand but will come together into a dough with a bit of effort.

Shape the dough into 1-1/2 inch balls. A cookie scoop is excellent here.

Roll each ball in the remaining ¼ cup sugar and place it on the prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart.

Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass to around 1/4 inch thick. I used a 3-inch diameter glass, and they pressed out close to the edge.

Sprinkle the remaining lemon zest lightly on top of the shaped cookies.

Bake for 17-19 minutes or until the cookies are set, and the edges are just lightly browned.

Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.