Chinese Almond Cookies
Chinese Almond Cookies Recipe
These Chinese Almond Cookies are a sweet, slightly crunchy cookie that have a very unique nutty flavor to them thanks to Almond flour. These delicious cookies go perfect with a cup of tea. The combination of the warm tea pares perfectly with these cookies.
Chinese Almond Cookies are made with almond flour, almond extract, and almond butter.
Perfect for Chinese New Year or The Lunar New Year, however, they are great any time of the year. The smell in the kitchen is amazing after these cookies are baked
Chinese Almond Cookies
Ingredients for Chinese Almond Cookies
- unsalted butter
- sugar
- eggs
- Almond Extract
- flour
- Almond flour
- Kosher salt
- baking soda
- Whole almonds
- water
Supplies Used:
- Baking sheet
- Wire rack
- Large mixing bowl
- Large bowl
- Stand mixer
- Cookie scoop
- Parchment paper
- Small bowl
- Pastry brush
Instructions
In a large bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, the almond flour, the kosher salt, and the baking soda and set aside.
Add the unsalted butter and the white granulated sugar into a large mixing bowl. Cream the two ingredients together until you get a creamy consistency using a paddle attachment. (Approximately 2 to 3 minutes)
Add in the egg and mix thoroughly.
Next, add in the almond extract. Mix on low just unit the extract has been incorporated.
Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet slowly. Make sure to just mix the cookie dough until the dough is mixed together. You don’t want to overmix it.
Place the bowl into the fridge and let the dough chill for 30 minutes to one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets.
Using a cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop out a small round ball of dough.
Roll the dough into a one-inch ball and place them 1 inch apart on a lined cookie sheet.
Using your fingers or a heavy bottomed glass or the bottom of measuring cup, press the ball of dough flat. Then take an almond and place it on top of the cookie. Repeat this process for each cookie.
In a small bowl, add an egg and 1 tablespoon of water and whisk with a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of each cookie with the egg wash.
Bake the cookies for 8 to 13 minutes. They are done when the bottoms are starting to turn golden brown.
Remove from oven. Since cookies made with almond flour are normally a little more delicate, allow them to remain on the baking sheet for 10 – 20 minutes. Then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Additional Tips for Success
Almond flour burns easier than all-purpose flour so you will need to watch the cookies once you get close to the 8-minute mark.
Can you combine Almond flour with All-purpose flour? Yes, but it has to be a ratio of 25% less almond flour than the all-purpose flour.
Can I just use Almond flour instead of Regular flour? Yes, but you have to use a 1:1 ration. But keep in mind you may need to add more of a binder, such as more eggs.
How is Almond flour different than Regular flour? Almond flour is made from blanched almonds that have been finely ground.
Is Almond flour Gluten-free? Yes! And it’s also grain-free and low carb. It is also high in fiber and healthy fats.
Why did my cookies crumble? When using almond flour, the baked goods will be naturally more delicate. Let them cool for 10 – 20 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving them.
Why are my cookies flat? You may need to add more all-purpose flour to the recipe. The best thing to do is just make a few cookies and then bake them. Look at how they turn out. If they went totally flat, add more flour to the mixture. If they need more flavor, add more extract, then bake another one or two to try. That way you can adjust as you are baking without ruining a whole batch of cookies.
How to Bake in Batches to Make the Most of Your Baking Time
One way to handle your holiday baking is to bake in batches, then freeze and store for the big day. You can do this successfully over a couple of weeks with batch baking and batch preparing.
The biggest thing to remember is to only try a few different types of things in one day, or focus on just one type of baked good in one day. For example, you might want to bake all your quick breads in one day. Another day you can prepare all your cookie dough. Yet another time, you can bake all your fruit pies and so forth. This process makes the most of the time you have, the space you have, and your skill level.
Be Prepared
Don’t try batch baking without a plan of action. Be sure to write down your plans in advance so that you are sure you have enough time to do everything that you’ve planned. To figure out a basic time line, add up the prep time, the baking time for each oven full, and then multiply that by 1.5 to account for a little extra issues happening. Then you should be sure that you have enough time.
Get Everything Ready to Go
Your kitchen should be spotless when you start, and ensure that you have all the ingredients and appliances necessary to make each item ready to go. If you know, for example, that today you’ll be using about 10 pounds of flour, consider using a large bowl to hold the flour so you can easily spoon the flour into the measuring cup, flatten off over the bowl, without having to get into the bag over and over which usually means spillage.
Clean as You Go
Fill your sink immediately with hot soapy water so you can clean as you go. You will want to wash your mixing dishes and other utensils during the baking process so that you can use them again. There’s no point in totally destroying your kitchen as you batch bake, and you don’t have to. Set out a draining board, fill the sink with hot soapy water, and wash as you go. There are many opportunities during baking to wash a couple of dishes, and this will make the clean-up faster, and the process more organized.
All Day Batch Baking
You can set aside a day for batch baking such as a Saturday. Plan for all day baking, which usually entails 8 to 10 hours of work. Ensure that any other chores are done, including the shopping, and the kitchen is clean and ready prior to baking day. It’s important to organize your recipes with some logic behind them. For example, if you need dough to rise, start that first, so that it can be rising as you are preparing other things such as cookie dough or pie crusts. Both can be put in the refrigerator or freezer after preparation while you bake the bread, then baked after you bake the bread while the oven is still hot and ready.
Read each recipe that you plan to use and pay close attention to certain clues. For example, if an ingredient requires a cold kitchen, you’ll want to start that first. If something takes an hour to bake like banana bread, you can use that hour to mix other batter, dough, crust, filling and so forth that you can store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.
Organize the kitchen in stations. You will want a station for each type of baked good that you want to create. It’s a lot easier to lay out four pie crusts in pie tins, ready for fillings, than to do one at a time. As much as you can do for one type of thing in one run, do so. A bread making station is also essential. It needs to be a place you can freely flour the counter space, and easily clean up.
Be careful about combining batches in one recipe. If you have a cookie recipe that uses measures instead of weights, it’s better not to do them in more than one batch at a time, but you don’t need to clean the bowl between each batch that you make. Make the lightest type of batch first; for example, make sugar cookie dough before you make chocolate chip cookies, before you make peanut butter cookies. Consider the flavor, the ingredients, and everything before making the batches so that you can wash as little as possible.
The important thing about all day batch cooking is that you can choose to make only one type of baked good or you can make a number of different baked goods depending on how many people you need to feed.
Don’t try to stuff your oven too full. At most, you’ll want to cook two pies, four loaves of bread, and one large sheet of cookies at a time in one oven. Putting too many things in one oven can drastically change the temperature settings. Also, putting a dry item with a moist item in the oven at the same time can change the temperature needs. Read directions, plan ahead, and you’ll be fine.
If you liked this recipe, have a look at some of our other recipes too:
Grinch Cookies
Christmas Wreath Cookies
Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Italian Ricotta Cookies
Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Linzer Tart Cookies
Chinese Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- * 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup) softened
- * 1 cup white granulated sugar
- * 2 large eggs (1 for the cookie dough and one for the egg wash)
- * 1 teaspoon Pure Almond Extract
- * 1 ¾ All-purpose flour
- * 1 cup Almond flour
- * ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- * 1 teaspoon baking soda
- * Whole almonds
- * 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
In a large bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, the almond flour, the kosher salt, and the baking soda and set aside.
Add the unsalted butter and the white granulated sugar into a large mixing bowl. Cream the two ingredients together until you get a creamy consistency using a paddle attachment. (Approximately 2 to 3 minutes)
Add in the egg and mix thoroughly.
Next, add in the almond extract. Mix on low just unit the extract has been incorporated.
Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet slowly. Make sure to just mix the cookie dough until the dough is mixed together. You don’t want to overmix it.
Place the bowl into the fridge and let the dough chill for 30 minutes to one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets.
Using a cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop out a small round ball of dough.
Roll the dough into a one-inch ball and place them 1 inch apart on a lined cookie sheet.
Using your fingers or a heavy bottomed glass or the bottom of measuring cup, press the ball of dough flat. Then take an almond and place it on top of the cookie. Repeat this process for each cookie.
In a small bowl, add an egg and 1 tablespoon of water and whisk with a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of each cookie with the egg wash.
Bake the cookies for 8 to 13 minutes. They are done when the bottoms are starting to turn golden brown.
Remove from oven. Since cookies made with almond flour are normally a little more delicate, allow them to remain on the baking sheet for 10 – 20 minutes. Then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 99Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 72mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 2g
