Almond Sandwich Cookies
Crunchy Almond Sandwich Cookies make marvelous edible gifts and will be the highlight of the neighborhood cookie exchange.
The first time I made these Almond Sandwich Cookies I was trapped in my house due to snow.
We don’t have white drifts blanketing the landscape like many friends up North. Snow in the Blue Ridge Mountains is a novelty. We see it on the mountain tops. We drive up into it to ski. We even get enough in the valleys to sled once or twice each year.
But drive in it? Live functional lives in it?
No. We don’t do that.
Our local schools had been closed four times that December, due to 1-2 inches of snow.
Ridiculous, you might say, but Asheville is just not equipped to clear roads to free us from our homes! Too many people live on the slopes, meaning one patch of black ice could be detrimental.
So I was stuck in my house. Christmas shopping undone. Holiday errands un-run. Holiday baking?
That I could still do. I even have a couple school-skipping elves to help me!
Cookies are magical. They provide a common bond for any group of people. They offer instant (if only momentary) bliss. They are adored by the young and old alike. Cookies are bite-sized portions of love.
I found this particular Almond Sandwich Cookies recipe in an old Bon Appetite Magazine. After drooling over the photo I noticed they were made with almond paste instead of flour.
Very curious.
The Almond Sandwich Cookies reminded me of the classic Amaretti cookies you find in the square metal tins this time of year. Only thinner, softer, and filled with jam.
I experimented with fillings and found my family liked blackberry jam the best.
The first batch of Almond Sandwich Cookies gave a random winter snowed-in day glimmer of excitement. I’ve been making them for holiday cookie exchanges ever since!
Almond Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
- 7 ounces almond paste (1 tube)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup egg whites
- Fruit jam or filling, any flavor
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line to large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Break the almond paste into chunks and place it in a food processor. Add the sugar and cinnamon and grind until fine. Add the egg whites and pulse until smooth.
- Scoop the mixture into a large zip bag and snip a hole in one corner. If the almond mixture in thick, pour the sliced almonds on to a plate. Then squeeze circle onto the almonds. Flip them over so they are covered with almonds on both sides, then lay them on the cookie sheets. If the almond mixture is loose, place little mounds of sliced almonds on the cookies sheets where the cookies will be. Squeeze the mixture into circles on top of the little almond piles. Then sprinkle with a few more almonds.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them at the end because they turn dark quickly.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely on the parchment paper. Then turn half of them over and top with jam or frosting. Give each cookie a top and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
So cool! (no pun intended!) YOUR cookies ARE magical! Our schools have not closed in over 100 years… and I am living in the Alberta prairies and we have heavy snows and very cold temperatures!!! But, we never close our schools, and as a teacher, it has been a real challenge to get there some days! I would love to stay home and back cookies on snowy days… and, of course, I do when I am home. There truly is nothing more "homey" than cookies in the oven with snow falling outdoors.
Love the recipes and the photos!
:)
valerie
I love your snowed in cookies, a perfect way to keep warm and spend extra time with the kids..great pics!! oh I wish it would just cool down a bit here, still in the 70's, lol
sweetlife
Mmmmmm …. almond paste! :)
Those do look fantastic. I need to go back through my magazine because I don't remember seeing them!
Being snowed in is the perfect reason to bake! I love those days… Beautiful cookies – I love almonds so I'm sure they would hit the spot!
Your cookies are magical! I love the photos. Even if the snow falls and you're stuck inside at home you've managed to fill your time quite nicely! Stay warm and thanks for sharing with the rest of us:-)
I love jam-filled cookies. Love love love. It kinda makes me wish we were snowed in so I could make these. Or I guess I could make these without snow? :)
Your cookies are snow-capped too :) I can't believe they've canceled school so many times for so little snow, but I guess if you don't have the means to clean it all safely, then that's just life. At least your kids can help you bake! Have a great holiday!
Baking is an excellent way to spend a snow day. Oregonians are the same way! If we get 1/2 an inch of snow on the roads everything shuts down.
These cookies sound great. I love how you prepare them on the parchment paper. Almond overload!
Oh Dear….that sound surreal…Here at La, la, la, land it doesn't even look like xmas time. I went to the beach last Sunday. Can you believe that? Your cookies look amazing, pretty pictures too.
These are awesome and I can just tell how wonderful they taste. I love almondy cookies like this! Even better with some raspberry jam. I am buzzing them because they look so great.
BTW, your description of NC in the snow makes me giggle. I lived in Vancouver and it was like that too. An inch of snow shut the whole city down because no one knows how to drive in it!
You are certainly right. Bake keeps your mind occupied so you don't think about everything that needs to be done. I know that the weather there is pretty harsh. Hang in there and bake!
Gosh – these cookies look so good. Love almonds!!
I know that this would happen to us if it snowed in Austin. We just don't have the equipment to handle the snow! But I don't think we will be getting any of that white stuff…we are warm and dry right now…and I'm enjoying it! But I do miss those Colorado afternoons when snow would keep me in my kitchen baking away. Thank you for sharing with me..these almond treats look amazing!
I wish I was snowed in at your house! Kate @ kateiscooking
You make me smile. Schools closed 4 times already? That is pretty funny. They make us get the kids to school in all kinds of weather. Sometimes we just keep them home, because it is to dangerous to get out. Hasn't happened this year yet.
What wonderful looking cookies. I just bought some fresh baking marzipan yesterday. I will take the recipe with me to try. Thanks!
Oh yep…cookies are magical. I love those sandwiched cookies. Here we are having the snowy weather too and I am happy to stay inside and BAKE! LOL