One of the ingredients in Todd Wilbur's recipe is lard. From experience, I knew the Armour brand lard just wouldn't do. (In the past, when I used Armour lard in sweet pastries, it seemed to produce weird off flavors.) After asking every one of my local supermarkets and boutique grocers for high quality leaf lard, I realized that I was not going to be able to find it. So, I tried the recipe with butter and with Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening (which is made with mechanically pressed organic palm fruit oil that hasn't been additionally processed in any way). Both recipes were delicious - as expected, the shortening almond cookies had a lighter, crispier texture, but not quite as much fullness of flavor. Many tasters did comment that the shortening made almond cookies had a stronger almond flavor and may have tasted a little sweeter. In the end, the recipe I recommend is has a mix of both butter and shortening. If you do choose to use shortening, I recommend avoiding any that contains partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
For the all butter recipe, I assembled all the ingredients: 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup (60 g) almonds), 1 cup (200 g) sugar, 1 large egg, 12 ounces butter, 1 ounce water, 1 teaspoon almond extract, and 24 almonds.
I used a blender to grind the 60 g almonds into a fine powder. Because the almonds had a tendency to stick to the sides of the blender carafe, I had to use a spatula to scrape down the sides a few times to get an even grind.
This is what the almonds looked like after the grind.
I whisked the flour, salt, baking soda, and freshly ground almond powder together.
Then I used a stand mixer to cream the butter (shortening or butter/shortening combination) with the sugar, egg, almond extract, and water. If the butter isn't fully softened, the sides of the mixing bowl will need to be scraped down once or twice before the mixture will be smooth and without lumps.Related Articles
I then took another large egg and beat it lightly. Using a pastry brush, I brushed egg onto the surface of each dough ball.
After baking for twenty minutes in a 350°F (175°C) oven, I cooled them on a wire rack.Chinese Almond Cookies (makes 24 cookies)
| Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) | |||||||||
| 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour | whisk | mix | form into 1-in. (2.5 cm) balls | press almond onto each ball | refrigerate 15 minutes | brush | bake 350°F (175°C) 20 min. | cool on wire rack | |
| 1 tsp. (4.6 g) baking soda | |||||||||
| 1/2 (3 g) tsp. salt | |||||||||
| 1/2 cup (60 g) almonds | grind to powder | ||||||||
| 6 oz. (170 g) butter | cream | ||||||||
| 6 oz. (170 g) palm oil shortening | |||||||||
| 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar | |||||||||
| 1 tsp. (5 mL) almond extract | |||||||||
| 1 large (50 g) egg | |||||||||
| 1 ounce (30 mL) water | |||||||||
| 24 almonds | |||||||||
| 1 large egg | beat lightly | ||||||||
Related Articles
I would appreciate if you could check out my foodblog & give your feedback. Thanks !
Sonali
http://spicehut.blogspot.com
-Sonali
It is actually not necessary to use parchment paper or foil. I did a batch directly on the sheet pan and it came out just fine. You do spend a tiny bit more energy cleaning the pan because there will be more fat on the pan than if you had lined it.
Thanks, Heather
Thanks, Heather
Chances are if you use an immersion or stick blender you'll make a mess as the almond pieces get flung everywhere. A coffee grinder will work perfectly fine however.
These cookies were never all that moist (unless using the all butter version - then they are a little tender) - they're light and crispy... Four days should be fine - she'll probably need to eat them within the next two or three days after she receives them though.
Yes it was. Fixed!
Only one quibble ~ 6 ounces (butter, shortening) is not 120 grams, it is more like 168 grams.
Ah, you're right. I was doing some quick mental math on 340 g divided by two is of course 120 g (I'm an idiot :) ). I've made the changes - it's 170 g. That's for catching that error!
Thank you!
I don't feel like they need to be. In my case, I used slivered almonds that already had their skins removed. If you don't blanch your almonds the skins will create a slight textural difference in the ground almonds, but it should be acceptable.
Thanks.
What do you think it would do to the almond cookie recipe?
Place an order for the San Francisco Farmer’s Market on Saturday. Pick up there, at the Ferry Plaza . To order, use farmersmarket@nimanranch.com, or call --- by Wednesday of the week you want to pick up.
Schuyler Ingle
Customer Service
Niman Ranch
510.500.0537
www.nimanranch.com
Have a great day,
Margot
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com
Here is picture.
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/almond-b...jpg
Thanx,
Margot
My family can't get enough of these cookies! Different from all the other cookies i've tasted. Not so sweet.
http://www.veganfabulous.com/?p=27
~Miss Jubilee, Henan, China
If pure palm oil (which is what the spectrum brand vegetable shortening is) isn't available where you are, then you can use the traditional shortening ingredient - lard. High quality lard tastes tastes better in baked goods than vegetable shortenings.
/q
I was running out of printer paper, & tried to stop the printing job, but it wouldn't stop ... I am FURIOUS
/uq
two thoughts:
(1) few would consider a nine page supply of printer paper "adequate"
(2) acquiring some basic computer skills - such as how to stop the printer - could be useful.
I also recommend you research the meaning of "printer friendly" -
and perhaps "internet etiquette" while you're on a roll . . .
I have been trying and trying to solve the problem of:
how to grind almonds to a fine powder, to use in making almond paste or cookies etc:
I have used the FOOD PROCESSOR with the blades, to chop up the almonds but this has left a rather COARSE almond flour.
I used an inexpensive "burr" Coffee bean grinder ( $40.00)
hoping that would work.
It did for the first short whle and then the fats in the almonds accumulated in the BURR mechanism and blocked the Grinder up so it was useless.
I am wondering if a BURR Coffee bean grinder in the $150.00 rqange would work better on the almonds and not get clogged up due to the fatty nature of the almond nuts?
I have NEVER used a BLENDER and wonder if this might be the way?
Also I know , or think I know, that industrially, almond flour is made on a grinder with TWO rollers (stone, I think).
But these are expensive. I mention this as it shows there MUST be a way to make almond powder using a machine.
I mean, almond paste is made in huge quantities industgrially, as well as ALMOND FLOUR.
SO what I am trying to understand is:
1. the BEST way to achieve a fine almond powder: wopuld it be these industiral grinders with the STONE ROLLERS?
2. Or will a small relativley inexpensive KITCHEN appliance do an EQUAL job?
And would a BLENDER be the inexpensive solution?
Say I want to grind 1-2 pouinds of almonds (not all at once!) to make almond flour for cookies or almond paste. Would a blender be a good solution.
I have not used a BLENDER as yet?
Anything to watch out for when purchasing one?
I find it STRANGE that there is so little INFO on HOW to grind almonds to a flour, and that there are so few (if any) machines dedicated to the task.
DOes no one cafre for Almond flour?
I have a KitchenAid and looked to see if there would be an attachment for it to grind almonds.
But the attachement would only grin GRAINS and NOT "oily" nuts.
SO that makes the KitchenAid useless for this task.
Quite frustrating.
Any ideas?
Perhaps purchase two stone rollers?
YOu would think stone rollers would get plugged up as well with the oily almonds.
How can you get a FINE Almond flour from oily almondfs in the first place?
Oh yes, I tried a hand grinder which as burrs in it.
For grinding poppy seeds. That too got clogged up.
SO really this is a "science" to get nice fine fluffy almond flour from OILY nuts.
By the way, when I ground the almonds, I did not blanche (peel) them.
Wonder if that has a bearing on the "clogging" issue?
not sure if almond ever gets to the "bread flour" stage - there is a lot oil in the nuts.
here's a link on "how to" - curiously similar approaches to your efforts
http://www.trulylowcarb.com/AlmondTLC.htm
Best regard.
Emilio Rot.
PS: Additionally I will appreciate ever so much, if you could inform to me... I am highly interested to grind ALMONDS/NUTS/HAZELNUTS in besides in several grain sizes. Do you know some Chooper or Small Grinding Machine suitable for making it???
On Trans Fats - Butter has almost as much trans fat as Crisco -- and since butter and tropical oils also have lots of saturated fat, the American Heart Association is still recommending margarine, trans-fat and all. I would just stick with plain Crisco or go with traditional lard (my favorite).
To the tireless almond grinder -- I feel your pain. Have you looked into a home mill used for producing flour? You might consider asking at the King Arthur Flour forum -- lots of hard-core bakers over there who grind their own flour at home (and, I'm sure, nuts). www.bakingcircle.com
Of course, I would just go the easy route and buy almond flour and almond paste online - real cheap if you but in bulk (6-7pounds). http://americanalmond.com
Crisco has been reformulated to reduce/eliminate transfat; many bakers have noticed Crisco does not "perform" as before.
It's interesting that you say the baking qualities of Crisco have changed -- I think bakers are generally going to have a harder time than people who use Crisco for frying. The former use shortening to improve the end product while the latter just want a sturdy oil that won't go rancid quickly.
as you point out, the definition of "zero" is problematic.
Crisco's new no-transfat formulation does not perform like traditional Crisco. It has ruined my formerly fabulous pie crust, and I think it would adversely affect the Almond Cookies as well. The new Crisco seems to perform more like an oil than a solid.
I am at 8250 feet above sea level, so if anyone is wondering if this recipe works, it does!
I swapped light brown sugar for white and used 1/2 cup almond meal instead of grinding the almonds.
Thanks for the recipe!!
My pictures:
http://thefledglingcook.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/almond-cookie/