Simple Traditional Chinese Almond Cookies

These traditional cookies are crunchy and slightly sweet.
They pair very nicely with coffee or tea and are a nice
treat to serve following an Asian style meal.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shortening (I use butter flavored.)

42 almonds

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

6 egg yolks

1 tablespoon almond extract

2 additional egg yolks

Method:

Melt the shortening and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the almonds to the boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water. Pinch the skins off of the almonds and set aside on a paper towel to dry.

In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder. Sift all of the dry ingredients a second time to make certain they are light and well combined. 

In a small bowl whisk together the 6 egg yolks and melted shortening. Beat in the almond extract. Use a bowl scraper/spatula to fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Use your hands to finish mixing the dough and form into a ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough. (The dough will be crumbly and have a texture similar to pie crust.) Cover the dough in the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350*. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and heat for 5 to 7 minutes to toast. Set aside to cool. 

Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl beat the remaining 2 egg yolks and set aside,

Increase the oven heat to 375*. Use about 3 tablespoons of dough to form 42 balls. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use your fingers to flatten the balls into discs. Brush the discs with the beaten egg yolks. Press 1 toasted almond on top of each disc. If cracks form, just squeeze the dough back together. Bake for 15 minutes or until the the cookies are light golden in color.

Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. After the cookies have completely cooled, transfer to an airtight storage container. Place sheets of waxed paper in between layers of cookies. Makes 42 cookies.

Note: Original (old fashioned) Chinese Almond Cookies are made with lard. They are good, but have a "fatty" aftertaste. I prefer to use butter flavored shortening because it helps to create a crunchy cookie with no aftertaste.