If you like this article, please share: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:
- Whisk flour, milk powder and baking powder. Set aside.
- 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.
- Then with a hand held electric mixer, beat them until well combined.
- Add in vanilla essence. Then add in egg in 2-3 batches. Beat until the mixture is light and creamy.
- 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.
- Wrap the dough with plastic film and keep it in the fridge to rest for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, preheat oven at 180°C for 10-15 minutes. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Divide them into 35 cookie doughs with 10 grams each. Shape them into balls.
- Place the cookie dough straight into the baking tray, leaving a little space in between to allow them to spread during cooking.
- Brush egg white on top and then place one almond on the cookie dough. Press it down slightly.
- 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)
- 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:
- Available in baking supply ingredient shop.
- For best results, use premium brand for butter (I used Luprak).
- If your oven has no top and bottom heat, put the baking tray at the lowest rack.
- If your oven has top and bottom heat, bake at 170°C for top heat and 150°C for bottom heat.
- 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.
- If the cookie dough is too soft to handle (due to the hot weather), return it to the fridge for another 10 minutes.
- You can substitute almonds with other nuts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.]
- Best to consume within a week for freshness.
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.
Joanne: Thanks! Yes, you said it all! 😉
So round and pretty! Happy CNY to you and family!!
Ching (LCOM): Thanks! Same to you and your family! 😉
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.
I love the melty kind of such cookies 🙂 but I guess with the whole almond on top of each cookie, makes the texture too contrasting as a whole.
Tigerfish: Yeah, that’s the whole idea of this recipe. 😉
Mary Moh: Thanks! 😉
Gong xi Gong xi soon!! Very pretty looking cookies.. and the almond make it looks elegant 😉
Lee Mei (MCH): Gong Xi Fatt Choy to you and your family too! Thanks for your compliment! 😉
Very beautiful almond cookies, good for CNY. I can’t stop eating once I have the first one. They are very delicious and addictive.
Christine: Thanks!! Yeah, they are very addictive!! 😉
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 😀
Claudie: Thanks for your wonderful compliments! 😉
those cookies are cute!
Peachkins: Thanks!! 😉
prefect almond morsels =D
J3ss kitch3n: Thanks for your compliment!! Looking forward to the roundup! 😉
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 😀
Jen (ToH): Thanks! Happy CNY to you and your family! 🙂
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 😀
Tofugirl: Thanks!! Hope you will like it! 😉
These are too cute with the almonds on top :). Happy early CNY!
Xiaolu: Thanks! Happy CNY to you and your family too! 😉
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 =)
Pigpigscorner: Thanks for your compliment and kind suggestion. 😉
Cute and delicious! Wishing you a Cute & Healthy “Rabbit” year! 🙂
Alice: Thanks, my friend! Same to you and your family! 😉
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.
Lena: Thanks! I love those crunchy almond nibs too. Sounds yummy! 😉
They look adorable with the almond topping. Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family!
Noobcook: Thanks!! Same to you and your family! 😉
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!
The Sudden Cook: Thanks!! Yes, it’s real fun to bake them. Same to you and your family! 🙂
Very nice almond butter cookies! I like the big whole almond place on the top, nice! Happy Lunar New Year to you!
Kitchen Corner: Thanks!! Gong Xi Fatt Choy to you and your family! 😉
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!
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!
This looks so tasty! I love the butter and almond combination.I will make some of this tomorrow. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Rose Silver: Thanks!! Hope it will suit your palate. Looking forward to your kind feedback! 😉
Looks pretty and perfect! Happy Rabbit Year to you! 🙂
Small Small Baker: Thanks!! Same to you and your family! 😉
Wish you and your family a Happy Lunar New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Jess: Same to you and your family! 😉
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
Celine: Same to you and your family!!! Gong Xi Gong Xi! 😉
Can I use normal plain flour?
Mavis_Ssmama: Yes, you can do it. This is the substitution: 1 cup cake flour use 7/8 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch (please refer to this link http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Dictionary/C/Cake-flour-5142.aspx). Hope it helps!
cornstarch is corn flour?
Mavis: Yes, you’re right. 😉
Hi,are there any ingredients that I can use to substitute milk powder in this recipe?
Xiu: Sorry, I’m not sure. 😉
[…] 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 […]