Almond Cookies with Apricot Preserves



 

These cookies were a hit on the Christmas table.  The recipe I used to make them comes from a Mexican cooking magazine from the 1960's.  Most of the recipes in that publication are very complicated and precise. I have tried some of them but this is the one I keep coming back to. This is the simplified version with great results.  The warm and golden color, the almond crunch when you bite and the flavor and consistency are delicious and fulfilling.

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

2 tbsp of baking powder

2 tbsp of almond flavor

8 egg yolks

300 grams of butter at room temperature

1 cup of ground almonds *grind whole almonds in the food processor

Apricot Preserves to Garnish

 

 

The magazine's instructions recommend and incorporate the ingredients with bare hands, except for the butter, eggs and sugar which are to be mixed with a fork or a whisk. However nowadays we can use the food processor or blender to make the cookie dough. I have tried both ways the "old style" and the "modern style" and the results are pretty much the same.

First step is to mix the dry ingredients flour, ground almonds and baking powder.  Then mix the butter and the sugar and  add the yolks one by one.  When you have both mixes ready, add them together (hands or food processor) until you have a yellowish and soft dough. Make balls with the hands of about 1.5 inches  (about 3 or 4 cms) of diameter. Place them on cooking sheets, leaving a space of  2 inches between each cookie. Preheat the oven at 375 F.  Bake them for about 15 mins or until they have almost doubled their size and flattened. If they are golden on the bottom, they are ready.  Take them out of the oven and pressing a spoon in the center make some space to put the apricot jam once they have cooled down.

Let them cool and then fill the cookies with the jam in the center.  They are great as dessert or as a snack and have healty protein from the almonds.