Almond Cookies II (Almendrados)

Very little wheat grows in Alicante, Spain, but you can find almond trees everywhere, so the flour in Almond Cookies (Almendrados) is made of nuts, making these intensely flavorful cookies.

Prep time
45 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
55 mins

Author: Barbara Norman
Serves: 20 cookies

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/3 Cups blanched almonds; plus
• 10 blanched almonds, split lengthwise; for garnishing
• 2/3 Cup sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grind the 1 1/3 cups blanched almonds to a fine paste in electric blender or mortar. Mix ground almonds with sugar and salt. Fold in egg whites beaten to a stiff beak.
3. For each cookie, drop equivalent of heaping 1/2 teaspoon of mixture onto buttered sheet.
4. Top each cookie with half an almond.
5. Bake in 400 degree oven until cookies are lightly browned on top (approximately 10 minutes). The inside of the cookie will look still moist when cookie is done. Remove to a rack and cool.

not mine.credit and source: EPICURUS

Easy Spanish Almond Cookies Recipe - Almendrados

The Spanish have used almonds in desserts and sauces or centuries. Everything from St. James cake, and bienmesabe (Spanish almond cream), to polvorones and panellets cookies.

Almendrados are Spanish almond cookies, which are very simple to make, and make a light, sweet dessert, or snack. Many Spanish prepare them at Christmas, too. Egg whites are beaten to a stiff peak, then sugar, egg yolks and ground almonds are mixed together and baked.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb (1/2 kg) ground almonds*
1 1/4 cups (1/2 lb = 250 gr) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 24-30 cookies

PREPARATION:

* Many times ground almonds are not available in stores, so use raw, peeled almonds. Purchase whole, peeled or peeled, slivered almonds and grind with a food processor until fine. Another option is to purchase whole raw almonds, then blanch and grind at home. Blanching almonds is easy, and takes about 30 minutes for 1 pound.

Heat oven to 360F (180C) degrees.

Grate the lemon peel, avoiding the white part of the peel because it is bitter.

Separate the yolks from the egg whites.  In a small glass or ceramic mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to a stiff peak.

Place the egg whites into a medium mixing bowl, and gently stir in the egg yolks. (No need to mix thoroughly.)

Add the granulated sugar, lemon zest, ground almonds, and optionally the cinnamon, mixing thoroughly.

Using your hands, shape the cookies into mounds or pyramids and place on a greased cookie sheet, or one covered in parchment paper.

Bake in oven on center rack for approximately 15 minutes, until cookies turn a golden color. Remove from oven and gently loosen the cookies using a spatula. Allow to cool on a rack.

Note: Remove quickly from baking sheet. Do not allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet because once cooled, they will harden and become brittle (and  will crumble when you attempt to remove them.)

Store in a tightly covered container or tin.

not mine.credit and source: ABOUT FOOD