I’m not huge on sweets, but I love a good cookie once in a while. Who doesn’t, really? The weather is cool today and I felt like making some nice treats: the not-to-sweet kind that are great with coffee or tea in the morning, afternoon or, heck, even late at night.
Since I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, it’s sometimes tough for me to decide what I’m in the mood for. I love almonds, though, so it was a no-brainer to work them into the recipe somehow. As I started thinking, I thought to myself, “Self, why work the almonds into the recipe when you can build the recipe around the almonds?” Clever, I thought, and so I got to work.
And now I give to you, world, my extra-special, not even remotely low-fat, delicious as all get-out Triple Almond Sandies… a new vegan twist on the old pecan sandie standard using almond extract, almond meal AND (you guessed it) actual almonds all in one tasty little cookie. (And these are tastier, if I do say so…)
Triple Almond Sandies
Yield: 2 dozen, depending on size
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup almond meal
2 dozen whole or sliced almonds
Heat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (or if you’re like me and you keep running out of parchment paper, just give it a quick spray with your favorite oil. I use olive).
Sift flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream Earth Balance and extracts until soft. Add sugar and cream some more, usually a solid 2-3 minutes until everything it looking nice and fluffy.
Add almond meal to the EB/sugar mixture and mix thoroughly. Last, add the sifted flour to the creamed mix in thirds, mixing as you go. The end result should be a dry-ish dough that is easy to mold and sticks to itself easily but not to you! It should look something like this:
Roll dough into balls, approximately 1 inch in diameter or larger depending on the size of cookie you prefer. I like small cookies (because you get to eat more of them! Doh!) so I make mine on the shy side of 1 inch. Flatten the balls between your palms and lay on the cookie sheet. Press 1 whole almond or an almond slice into the top of each cookie.
Bake 19-22 minutes until the edges of the bottom start to turn golden brown. This usually happens right about the time that the delicious almond scent completely fills your kitchen and most of the rest of your abode, lulling you into a sweet almondine coma. Resist! Immediately transfer your sandies to a wire rack and allow to cool.
Like I said before, these little babies are great paired with your favorite coffee or tea drink, but consider upping the almond ante by serving this snack alongside a hot almond chai or maybe splashing a little amaretto in your regular hot beverage.
