These are classic Tuscan Christmas cookies. I love them because they’re crunchy. Like potato chips, you can’t eat just one. If you want to make them extra special, you can drizzle them with chocolate, or you can squish a little melted chocolate between two cookies and make little cookie sandwiches. They’re also easy to make gluten free by just substituting a little gluten free flour for the regular flour. They’re mostly just almonds anyway.
5 ounces blanched almonds (about 1-3/4 cups sliced)
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (can substitute gluten free flour)
Finely grated zest of one orange (about 2 tablespoons)
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
5 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
I blanch my own almonds by throwing them into some boiling water for about 15 seconds. Then drain them and sort of pinch them to pop the skins off. Let them dry well before using.
You can buy them already blanched. The recipe I have calls for 1-3/4 of sliced, blanched almonds, but I blanch my own and weigh them to get 5 ounces. You can also buy blanched almond meal. If it isn’t ground fine enough, you can grind it a little finer in your food processor.
Pulse the almonds in a food processor until very finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir the almonds, flour and orange zest together in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a full rolling boil. Continue to boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set it aside and let it cool for 30 minute or more, until it stiffens up and you can handle it.
Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-in cookies) and roll into balls. I use a 1/2 Tablespoon for larger cookies. You can use a Tablespoon for big six inch cookies. If you aren’t all that fussy about having perfectly round cookies, which I’m not, you can just drop little gobs of dough onto your baking pan and don’t bother rolling them into little balls. The dough has to get pretty stiff before you can roll it into balls anyway. Up to you.
Bake them on a silicone baking mat, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave plenty of room between cookies because they really spread. With 1/2 Tablespoons of dough, you can only bake 9 cookies at a time.
Bake them at 350 for 5 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake another 5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, them remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container, with waxed or parchment paper between the layers.
One recipe makes about 4-5 dozen 3 inch cookies.