Lemon and Almond Cookies

Lemon cookies are always a delight – not overly sweet, and full of wonderful citrusy aroma. I often add some crunchy ingredients into the dough mix (poppy seeds, or pistachio nuts). This time, I chose to add almond flour to the basic buttery dough, for its creaminess and unique texture.

The cookies are very easy to make, as they don’t need shaping, but are simply piped though a pastry bag onto the baking sheet.

Once baked, the result was just what I was hoping for: crispy and tasty cookies, with highly aromatic flavors and aroma of butter, vanilla, lemon and almonds.

The cookies are perfect for serving with hot or cold herbal tea. Try them and enjoy.

Makes: about 70 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Chilling time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
1 stick (115 grams) butter, very soft
2 L eggs

1 tsp vanilla paste

2 drops real almond extract

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs finely grated lemon zest

1¼ cups flour

¾ cup almond flour
Dash salt

1 tsp baking powder

Slivered almonds (optional)

1. Place the butter in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and almond extract, and whisk to combine. Add the sugar, lemon juice and zest, and whisk to a light and fluffy cream.
2. Add flour, almond flour, salt and baking powder, whisk briefly and switch to a spatula. Mix to a very soft dough.
3. Divide the dough between two pastry bags with star tips. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 330F (165C). Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
5. Pipe the dough in small mounds over the baking sheet, leaving room for the cookies to expand. Top with slivered almonds (optional).
6. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the cookies start to brown around the edges. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack, to cool to room temperature. (The cookies will be fairly soft at this point, but will crisp up once cooled completely.)

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