Countdown to Chinese New Year: Orange Almond Cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal (you can grind 1 1/2 cups of almonds)
- 3 sticks butter (1 1/2 cups), softened
- 2 tbs grated orange peel
- 1 tbs orange juice or 1 tsp orange extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup and it was still ok)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp almond extract
- almonds for garnish
Directions:
- In a bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and almond meal/flour.
- In separate bowl, cream butter, sugar, almond extracts, orange extract (or juice) and egg.
- Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix well. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Press one almond on top. The cookies will expand so place only a few so as not to crowd them when baking.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until light brown. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
What an inspired touch to add orange flavor to the traditional Chinese almond cookie. Most appropriate, too, since oranges are a must-have for Lunar New Year celebrations.
Yummy! When I do bake, I prefer to make cookies because they’re easier to store (I feel like a whole cake or pie has to be eaten w/in a certain amount of time). I’ve only recently discovered the joys of almond meal so this is a great recipe for me!
these cookies would go very well with a cup pf tea I’m drinking now. Cookies always seem very easy to cook, but to be honest, I failed in cooking them several times. so, now I’m afraid of trying.
thanks for this recipe anyway.
Hey…I’ve had my share of burned cookies. I think it’s all about practice!
Keep trying…and let me know how it goes.
I agree. I feel like I need to eat the whole cake! Which is what happens most of the time. Or I just spread the love and deliver the cake to my neighbors.
Thank you! I didn’t know oranges are a must-have for Lunar New Year celebrations.