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.
Those look wonderful. In the winter (well, real winter, not the fake winter of Arizona)I like to stay home and bake too. There is something so homey about being in a warm house, creating wonderful things in the oven, keeping the cold at bay.
Happy Holidays!!
Yum, the texture of these cookies look so nice! I love that the batter is kind of wet too. Wet cookie batters make some of the best cookies;-)
I feel so bad! Somehow a comment you left me got into my spam folder and I deleted it before I realized it was a non-spam comment! Sorry about that! :( I'm not even sure how that happened seeing as you comment pretty frequently!
Delicious! Don't you love a good snow day? What a great way to spend the time. Can't wait to make these myself…would love to be doing it on a snow day, if we ever get any snow!
Wonderful they look..It's not snowing(much) yet in Colorado, very strange rt?Probably we will not have a white X'mas this year
These cookies look yummy. Love your photos too!
Gorgeous cookies to bake while snowed in. I saw this recipe this month and was thinking of trying out. Your version is tempting!
delicious festive cookies
Are you kidding me? These look sooo good. Beautiful cookies!
Oh.my.goodness. This is what happens in your home when you get stuck by the snow? i so wish you could get stuck into my home. I would walk for miles to go get groceries for you while you stay in baking these cookies :)
These look delicious! I am such a sucker for sandwich cookies :) Days snowed in to bake with your children sound perfect to me. I live in Phoenix…so snow days are non-existent, but grew up in Ohio so I can definitely appreciate (and miss!) the joy of them!
Beautiful almond cookies! They even "feel" like Christmas!
I love sandwich cookies! This version with the almonds (one of my favorite flavors), looks delicious, and I like the idea of using jam instead of frosting/icing.
This looks great!!!
Wow, four snow days already! Your elves are loving it I'm sure – especially with treats like these yummy almond cookies. Naturally, we don't get snow in SoCal, never say never tho, just a steady rain causes chaos out here :)
I've got a block of marzipan I've been wondering what to do with and Christmas being just round the corner presents the perfect reason to use it. The sandwich cookies look wonderful!! I haven't done any Christmas shopping either *sigh* Maybe I'll just skip it this year and make cookies for everyone instead ;)
loved the flourless cookie recipe and thanks for the step by step tutorial !
Wow, these cookies are amazingly delightful…
Sorry about all of the snow, there have been a lot of extreme weather conditions in so many places lately. Bet your Elves are pleased though :)