food 4 tots

Almond butter cookies

almond butter cookies, chinese almond cookies, butter cookies, food-4tots, food for tots, toddlers, picky eater, festive cookies, Chinese New Year


ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES RECIPE

Source: Adapted and modified from 孟老師的100道手工餅干(100 homemade cookies by Zhaoqing Meng)

Ingredients:
100g unsalted butter
50g icing sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp vanilla essence/ vanilla extract
30g egg (approx ½ large egg)
150g low protein flour (cake flour)
25g milk powder (note 1)
¼ tsp baking powder
35 pieces almonds (unroasted) (note 8 )

For egg wash: 15g egg white (note 9)

Methods:

  1. Whisk flour, milk powder and baking powder. Set aside.
  2. Let the butter turn soft at room temperature. Transfer softened butter to a mixing bowl. Add in icing sugar. Use a rubber spatula to combine well the ingredients.
  3. Then with a hand held electric mixer, beat them until well combined.
  4. Add in vanilla essence. Then add in egg in 2-3 batches. Beat until the mixture is light and creamy.
  5. Add the flour mixture and sift through a sieve, in 2 to 3 batches. Use a rubber spatula to roughly mix the flour mixture with the creamy mixture. Do not stir the mixture in a circular movement. Use a mix of “cutting”, “pressing” and “scraping” actions to combine well the ingredients to form a soft dough.
  6. Wrap the dough with plastic film and keep it in the fridge to rest for about 30 minutes.
  7. After 30 minutes, preheat oven at 180°C for 10-15 minutes. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
  8. Remove the dough from the fridge. Divide them into 35 cookie doughs with 10 grams each. Shape them into balls.
  9. Place the cookie dough straight into the baking tray, leaving a little space in between to allow them to spread during cooking.
  10. Brush egg white on top and then place one almond on the cookie dough. Press it down slightly.
  11. Bake at 170°C for 12-15 minutes and 160°C for another 2-3 minutes, or until they are lightly browned. After that, turn off the oven, leave the cookies inside with the oven door shut. Let the residue heat in the oven to cook the cookies for a further 2 minutes. (note 10)
  12. Remove the baking tray from the oven. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely and become crisp. Then store them in an airtight container.

Notes:

  1. Available in baking supply ingredient shop.
  2. For best results, use premium brand for butter (I used Luprak).
  3. If your oven has no top and bottom heat, put the baking tray at the lowest rack.
  4. If your oven has top and bottom heat, bake at 170°C for top heat and 150°C for bottom heat.
  5. Be careful not to over-bake the cookies. Monitor closely the cookies towards the last 5 minutes. If the cookies turn brown too fast, reduce the heat to 160°C. If the cookies show uneven colour after 15 minutes, rotate the baking tray.
  6. If the cookie dough is too soft to handle (due to the hot weather), return it to the fridge for another 10 minutes.
  7. You can substitute almonds with other nuts.
  8. This recipe doesn’t require you to roast the nuts in advance. But if you find that the nuts are not crunchy within the stipulated baking time. Then you can try roasting the almonds slightly (say 150°C for 5 minutes) or use smaller almonds.
  9. For egg wash, you can substitute egg white with egg yolk if you prefer your cookies to look golden brown. But you may need to mix egg yolk with 1 tsp of milk.
  10. I had modified slightly the baking time and baking temperature from the original recipe to suit my table top oven. [Note: Original baking time is 25 minutes plus another 10 minutes with the residue heat. Original baking temperature is 180°C for top heat and 150°C for bottom heat.]
  11. Best to consume within a week for freshness.


almond butter cookies, chinese almond cookies, butter cookies, food-4tots, food for tots, toddlers, picky eater, festive cookies, Chinese New Year

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53 Comments

  1. Joanne says:

    If you’re going to get hooked on anything in life, it might as well be cookie baking! Especially if said cookies involve almond butter. Delicious.

  2. Ching @ LCOM says:

    So round and pretty! Happy CNY to you and family!!

  3. MaryMoh says:

    Mmm…perfect for the coming Chinese New Year. In fact, it’s perfect for any time 😀 Love the almond on top. Makes it look so pretty.

  4. mycookinghut says:

    Gong xi Gong xi soon!! Very pretty looking cookies.. and the almond make it looks elegant 😉

  5. Very beautiful almond cookies, good for CNY. I can’t stop eating once I have the first one. They are very delicious and addictive.

  6. Claudie says:

    Wow, those are so pretty and cute! I never saw such almond cookies — I’ll have to make them next time I’m making cookies… although, just by looking at the picture, I can already tell I’ll be sorry because I’ll probably eat way too many at once 😀

  7. peachkins says:

    those cookies are cute!

  8. j3ss kitch3n says:

    prefect almond morsels =D

  9. Happy CNY in advance LK! I love butter cookies so I am sure your buttery almond cookies will be perfect! I love your cute presentation too! Have a good trip back to Malaysia 😀

  10. tofugirl says:

    Oh, those are beautiful!! I’m going to make pineapple tarts for CNY this weekend, but I might have to make a batch of these too 😀

  11. These are too cute with the almonds on top :). Happy early CNY!

  12. The whole almonds on top make the cookies look so pretty! Having said that, I’d prefer to have smaller chopped up pieces – easier to eat =)

  13. Alice says:

    Cute and delicious! Wishing you a Cute & Healthy “Rabbit” year! 🙂

  14. lena says:

    for me , i wld prefer the almond nibs, i just like crunching on all the bits in the cookies, This sounds like a very buttery cookies, looks adorable too! I just came across a jar of butter cookies yesterday in one of the stores, selling for CNY, quike alike to the danish cookies in the blue tin, it was very nice, melty and looked pretty cos the designs were piped thru.

  15. noobcook says:

    They look adorable with the almond topping. Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family!

  16. I’m just like that too. Once you start baking you want to start baking one recipe after another. Cookies look great. Here’s wishing you a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year!

  17. Very nice almond butter cookies! I like the big whole almond place on the top, nice! Happy Lunar New Year to you!

  18. Pei-Lin says:

    Hey! Your almond butter cookies look good to me nonetheless, in spite of all your words of discontent! LOL!

    Seriously, they charge you so much in SG? OMG!

    I enjoyed chatting with you the other night. Sorry that I didn’t let you go off earlier, which had you stayed up till like … LOL! Sorry! But then, I learned a lot from you! Thank you for sharing your experience!

    Stay in touch, K? I’ll let you know when I pop by SG in the future. Dunno when …

    Again, gong hey fatt choy! Enjoy the festivities in KL! Happy time does flee!

    • food-4tots says:

      Pei Lin: Thanks for your compliment! It’s nice chatting with you too. Hope we have a chance to meet up in future. Gong Xi Fatt Choy to you and your family!

  19. Rose Silver says:

    This looks so tasty! I love the butter and almond combination.I will make some of this tomorrow. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

  20. Looks pretty and perfect! Happy Rabbit Year to you! 🙂

  21. Wish you and your family a Happy Lunar New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

  22. celine says:

    Gong Xi Fa Cai, LK! 🙂 Here’s to the best in the Year of the Rabbit for you and your family. 🙂

    xoxo,
    David, Celine, Erica and Arianna

  23. Mavis_Ssmama says:

    Can I use normal plain flour?

  24. Xiu says:

    Hi,are there any ingredients that I can use to substitute milk powder in this recipe?

  25. […] cakes are very popular for the new year. They are typically made with almond flour. I used a variation on a theme and made almond butter cookies. These cookies used regular flour and placed an almond on top instead […]

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