Asian Almond Cookies

Happy belated Chinese New Years!

When it comes to this celebration, my family isn’t too traditional but its always nice to get everyone together for the celebration.

To mark this belated occasion (and completion of exams!), I decided to make these cookies for my grandma.

I’ve only eaten these cookies a handful of times, usually at banquet dinners for large celebrations. They have a subtle almond flavor with a crunchy exterior and more cakey interior. According to my mom, these cookies taste very similar to the restaurant cookies. You can find the original recipe here. If you don’t have almond flour like me, you could just grind a handful of almonds with a blender until the almonds are completely pulverized into a fine powder ( don’t forget to sift out the lumps!). From grinding the almonds, I had a little more almond flour than what the original recipe had called for, so I doubled the almond flour and slightly reduced the regular flour.

• 1 1/3 C AP flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 C almond flour
• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1/2 C sugar, or just under
• 1/2 egg, beaten
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 24 almonds, blanched and skin removed
• 1/2 egg for egg wash

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and ground almonds.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add half an egg, water, and almond extract – beat until smooth.
4. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Using a dough scoop, form 1-inch balls of dough and place 2 inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet.
6. Top each dough ball with an almond and brush the tops with egg wash.
7. Bake for 18-20 mins or until golden brown.

I actually really liked the texture of these cookies more than the restaurant ones. I think the restaurant cookies are usually more crunchy and crumbly, but these were a bit softer and fluffier in the middle. I think grandma really liked them too!

Hope everyone had a wonderful new years – wishing you all health and prosperity!