Prep Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 1/8 cup sugar
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 cups whole almonds (raw)
- 3 2/3 cups flour
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg yolk (optional)
Preparation:
This crispy Spanish almond cookie recipe makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.
You can buy the raw almonds in the bulk section of your supermarket, since this recipe requires about 1 lb. of almonds. First, grind almonds in a food processor.
Make Dough & Refrigerate
Cut vegetable shortening into the granulated and powdered sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds, almond extract and cinnamon and mix. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Mixture will seem dry or crumbly. You may want to use your hand to mix together the dough as you add the last cup of flour because the dough will be very crumbly. Mix ingredients well.
Some recipes call for an egg yolk, but it is optional: To add moisture and to bind the dough a bit, beat an egg yolk and mix it in to the dough.
Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours.
Form Cookies and Bake
Divide the dough into four portions. Using a portion of the dough at a time, roll or form a rope 1 – 1 ½ inches wide. Lay the rope on a cutting board and flatten the rope slightly. Slice the rope diagonally to make diamond-shaped cookies.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. Allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes. They are very crumbly! So, once they cool slightly, carefully remove them using a spatula.
