Almond Cookie

Almond Cookies built on actual almond paste are a different animal from the ones using almond extract alone. The paste brings concentrated almond flavor, marzipan-style chewiness, and a depth that no extract can deliver on its own. Eight ounces is a serious commitment, and the cookies show every gram in their bakery-style flavor.

The press-with-a-sugared-glass technique is heirloom kitchen wisdom. Dip a small fruit-juice glass into granulated sugar and press each ball flat. The bottom of the glass leaves a slight indentation, the sugar coats the surface in sparkling crystals, and you get visual texture plus extra crunch in one move.

Chill the dough for the full two hours. Almond paste makes the dough soft and sticky at room temperature, and chilling firms it up enough to handle. Skip this step and the dough sticks to your hands and the glass alike.

A teaspoon of dough per cookie keeps the size right for tea or coffee. The recipe yields 60 cookies, which is a real bake-day commitment but produces a stockpile that holds well in tins.

Bake until just delicately browned. These cookies are pale by design, and over-browning destroys the almond paste flavor.

Pro Tips

• Use real canned almond paste, not marzipan. Almond paste has more almond and less sugar; marzipan is sweeter and more pliable but lacks the cookie body.
• Let the almond paste come to room temperature before mixing. Cold almond paste resists incorporation and you end up with chunks in the dough.
• Add three-quarter cup of finely chopped almonds (per the recipe’s note) for textural variety and visible nut interest.
• Cool on the sheet for two minutes before transferring. Hot almond cookies are fragile and break easily.

Variations

• Substitute pistachio paste for almond paste for a green, more exotic version.
• Roll the unsugared balls in finely chopped almonds before pressing for an extra-nutty crust.
• Drizzle melted dark chocolate over the cooled cookies for an Italian patisserie finish.