Trader Joes sells pre-ground almonds, called "Just Almond Meal," in a 16 oz. package. ($3.99 as of Feb 2010). Right after Christmas, I managed to snatch up a container of candied cherries at clearance prices, guess everyone was done making fruitcakes. I stored these in the freezer until needed. Almond and cherry flavors together seem like a natural fit. A full size food processor
and a cookie press
is needed for this recipe.Ingredients:
1¼ cups ground up almonds (7.5 oz)
1½ cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 large egg, separated
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter or margarine, cut into pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
Candied cherries, cut into quarters, for decoration (or colored crystal sugar) - optional
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets. Have ready a cookie press with shaping discs.
Into the food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the ground almonds. Add the confectioners sugar, the egg white, and the almond and vanilla extracts. Process until a stiff paste is formed. Add the flour and sugar; process until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the butter and egg yolk. Pulse on-off just until the ingredients are blended. If mixture gets too thick to be blended by pulsing, remove it from the processor and mix with a strong spoon to finish.
Fit a cookie press with shaping disc. Fill the barrel of cookie press with dough. Press into desired shapes on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.* Sprinkle with sugar crystals, if desired, or add small piece of candied cherry to the center of each cookie.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until barely golden brown. Reverse the baking sheets during baking.* With a spatula, transfer baked cookies to wire racks to cool.
Yields about 60 cookies.
*Tips:
The cookie dough squeezed out of the cookie press is supposed to release from the shaping disc and stick to the baking sheet. If the dough stays stuck to the cookie press after lifting it up, or the cookie shapes are incomplete, try placing the press onto the sheet, pump, then twist the press slightly while lifting it from the baking pan to help release the dough from the press. Don't grease the cookie sheet or the dough won't stick to it (and detach from the press).
For even baking, cookies should always be rotated front to back halfway through baking. Also, if there are two baking sheets in the oven, rotate them between the upper and the lower rack. I learned this from Martha Stewart.
Adapted from a recipe in The Cookie Book, by Holly Garrison. Contains many recipes I use, including sugar cookies and chocolate cookies.
Hutzler is the brand of cookie press I have - it's easy to use and clean. I like the storage option on the other press, and it's also highly rated.
