Almond Demasiado Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen 3" cookies
When I spent the summer of 1980 living in Guanajuato, Mexico, I used to frequent a tiny bakery which sold outstandingly good almond cookies. Although these in no way resemble those cookies, I decided to give them a Spanish name anyway, in honor of the almond paste, almond extract, salted almonds, and slivered almonds in the recipe. The women in my family love these; the men in my family are not as nutty about almonds, and would say, "Too much!" -- which is exactly what demasiado means.
1 1/2 sticks (6 ozs.) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups (7 ozs.) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ozs.) loosely packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (2 ozs.) sugar
1 7-oz. package almond paste, grated
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 Tablespoon pure almond extract
1 cup (1 6-oz. can) salted almonds, coarsely chopped
1 cup (3 1/2 ozs.) blanched slivered almonds
-- Melt butter over very low heat and set aside to cool slightly. Put oven racks at top and lower-middle positions. Preheat the oven to 325°. Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
-- Beat together the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the almond paste. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and almond extract. Add dry ingredients and on lowest mixer speed, beat until just combined. Fold in the chopped and slivered almonds.
-- Place large scoops of dough (about 2 Tablespoons per scoop) onto parchment-covered cookie sheets, doing 8 to 9 scoops per sheet (if you don't have parchment, just grease the cookie sheets lightly -- they will end up slightly more crispy on the bottoms without parchment, but still excellent).
-- Place one cookie sheet on each oven rack. Bake at 325° for 6 to 8 minutes, then reverse the cookie sheets, putting the one from the top rack on the lower middle rack and vice versa. Bake for another 6 to 8 minutes, or until just barely golden brown and puffed.
-- Remove from heat and allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets for about 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Storage
These keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container. You can make the dough in advance and freeze it, too; just chill the dough in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes, or until firm enough to handle, and form it into a log about 12" to 14" long. Lay it on a double thickness of waxed paper and wrap the waxed paper around it firmly, twisting the ends closed. Store the wrapped dough in an airtight container in the freezer up to 6 weeks. To bake the frozen dough, chop off pieces with a sharp knife and bake as indicated, adding about 2 minutes to the total baking time.
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