These fluffy almond cookies almost melt in your mouth! Dappled with pieces of almond and flavored with almond extract, this is an easy cookie recipe for anyone who loves almonds.
When sifting through the dozens of recipes in my Lynn's Desserts series, these almond cookies were the recipe that most intrigued me.
In addition to adjusting the recipe from 100 cookies to a dozen, I ended up adjusting this recipe a lot from the original bakery recipe.
The result is almond cookies that are truly melt-in-your-mouth delicious, dappled with almond flavor and little pieces of almond. These cookies are made with powdered sugar, which gives them a really light and fluffy texture.
These feel like the perfect tea-time cookie or Christmas cookie. I can see these fitting perfectly in a cookie box next to molasses crinkles and chocolate crinkles.
Ingredients
- Powdered sugar: Also called confectioners sugar. This makes the cookies light and airy and a bit cakier than traditional cookies. I recommend measuring powdered sugar out on a kitchen scale instead of using cup measures.
- Butter: Choose unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter on hand, just cut the added table salt in half.
- Sliced almonds: Don't slice the almonds yourself! Sliced almonds are sold already sliced into thin pieces. This makes them easy to chop by hand or in a food processor.
- Almond and vanilla extract: The almond extract is integral to turning these into almond cookies. It also makes them taste a bit like classic Christmas sugar cookies, which is always a plus.
- Cream of tartar: This adds a touch of tang. It's most commonly found in snickerdoodles, but I assure you it's also worth adding to these almond cookies.
Step-by-step instructions
Measure out ½ cup of sliced almonds. Add to a food processor or blender (I use my bullet blender for this.) Or chop by hand. Pulse or chop until broken down into small pebble-like pieces of varying sizes.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined, about 30 seconds.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Slowly add this to the wet ingredients, about ½ cup at a time, until well combined. Fold in the ground almond.
The dough will be a bit wetter than typical cookie dough, that's okay. It should still be easy to roll into roughly 1.5-tablespoon-sized balls.
Drop into a bowl of powdered sugar, tossing to coat, then transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Leave 2 inches between each cookie.
I like to press almonds into the top of each cookie, but they will fall out during baking if they aren't really stuck into the dough.
Almond cookies don't spread as much as something like M&M cookies.
Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are puffy and the edges appear set. Remove from the oven and let rest for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Top tips
- I highly recommend measuring out the dry ingredients and sugar with a kitchen scale. Powdered sugar is difficult to measure consistently using a measuring cup, so a kitchen scale is a worthwhile investment.
- Press a couple of sliced almonds into the top of each cookie dough before baking to drive the almond aspect of the almond cookies home.
Storage tips
- Storage: Keep at room temperature for a few days in a closed container.
- Freezing cookie dough: I recommend rolling it into dough balls but freezing before rolling in powdered sugar. Add 1-2 minutes to the bake time if baking frozen frozen.
- Freezing cookies: Let the almond cookies cool before transferring to a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temp, or eat straight from frozen (that's my favorte way to do it!)
More cookie recipes
This recipe is part of my Lynn's Dessert series, which features classic bakery recipes that have been made hundreds of times. If you enjoy this recipe, make sure to check out one of the many other desserts in the series or leave a comment below to let us know what you think.
Recipe
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Almond Cookies
Equipment
- 1 cookie sheet
- 1 hand mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
- ½ cup sliced almonds plus more for topping
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened at room temp
- ¾ cup powdered sugar plus more for coating
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (optional.)
- Add ½ cup sliced almonds to a food processor or blender (I use my bullet blender for this.) Or chop by hand. Pulse or chop until broken down into small pebble-like pieces of varying sizes. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, use a mixer to cream together the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined, about 30 seconds.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add this to the wet ingredients, about ½ cup at a time, until well combined. Fold in the ground almond.
- The dough will be a bit wetter than typical cookie dough, that's okay. It should still be easy to roll into roughly heaping tablespoon-sized balls.
- Drop into a bowl of powdered sugar, tossing to coat, then transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Leave 2 inches between each cookie. Optionally, press a few sliced almonds into the top of each cookie.
- Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are puffy and the edges appear set.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- Almonds: Whole almonds can be used if sliced almonds aren't available. I just find that sliced almonds break down more quickly and easily than whole almonds.
- I tested the cookies with and without the powdered sugar coating. I think they are better with the coating because it adds extra sweetness, but you can skip that part if you prefer.
Hayley P says
Yum! Almond desserts are a huge hit in my family, I was excited to try a new recipe. These cookies came together quickly and beautifully. These could easily become a regular in my house. I would recommend doubling (or tripling) the recipe!
Cassidy Reeser says
Thanks so much for the review! 🙂