Chinese Almond Cookies

Almond Cookies Recipe

Ingredients-

2 cups flour

½ tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

¾ cup white sugar (can add up to 2 more tbsp, if desired)

1 egg

2 ½ tsp almond extract

¼ pound whole, blanched almonds (one per cookie)

1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter or margarine, shortening, and sugar. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. Note: the dough will be crumbly at this point, but don’t worry – that is what it’s supposed to be like.

3. Use your fingers to form the mixture into a dough, and then form the dough into two rolls or logs that are 10-12 inches long. Wrap and refrigerate for two hours (this will make it easier to shape the dough into circles).

4. Take a log and lightly score the dough at ¾ inch intervals so that you have 15 pieces and cut the dough. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie tray, approximately 1 ½ inches apart. Place an almond in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Repeat with the remaining dough.

5. Brush each cookie lightly with a beaten egg before baking. Bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.

            Almond cookies, or almond biscuits, are a traditional sweet treat found in China, and also several Chinese restaurants around the world. In Chinese, the actual name for these yummy cookies is “Hang Geen Bang”. This dessert is a staple in the Chinese diet and several variations can be found throughout the country. Almond cookies are a sweet and crunchy treat with a great almond taste!

            I found this recipe at the website: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/dessertcookies/r/almondcookies.htm. After searching around, this was the one that looked like the best to me. The first step in the directions was fairly easy; just like any other cookie recipe. The second step, though, was a bit trickier. Forming the dough into logs was very difficult when the dough was still room temperature and sticky. To make it easier on myself, I took wax paper and wrapped it tightly around the long, rectangular-shaped dough. I then taped the wax paper so it wouldn’t come undone, and began rolling the dough into a more circular form. This seemed to do the trick. After refrigerating for about two hours, the rest of the recipe was pretty simple to follow. The only difference I’d say was that it made about 12 cookies per log, not 15, so there was a total of 24 cookies made (for me, it was two pan-fulls). I almost forgot to brush the beaten egg on, but I remembered just in time! My cookies took about 16 minutes to bake until they were golden brown on the edges.

            The cookies smelled so good as they were baking. I had gone outside to put the garbage out, and when I came back in, the house had a mouth-watering smell of sweet almond. The aroma definitely proved right when I took the cookies out of the oven. After about two minutes, I took the cookies off the pan and transferred them to a cooling rack. I tried to wait, but I couldn’t. I ate one while it was still hot, and let me tell you, it was delicious! They were soft, with a slight crumble, and had a great flavor. After they cooled a bit longer, I tried another one, and noticed that it was a bit crunchier. The Chinese almond cookies are overall super yummy, and one of my new favorites. I will definitely keep this recipe on hand for another time!