These Italian Almond Cookies are a soft cut out cookie, fast and easy to make. Made with only 6 ingredients they make a nice addition to your Holiday Cookie tray.
Italian Almond Cookies
Italians love two things in their sweets, lemons and almonds. And a dusting of icing sugar doesn’t hurt either.
This year I decided to share one of the Italian’s favourite Christmas Cookies, Almond Cookies, plain and simple.
These cookies are a little like a buttery shortbread but with that extra taste of almond. The perfect cut out cookie. And the best thing? You need just one bowl and a fork.
Dough Ingredients
Cut out Cookies ready for baking
How to make Italian Almond Cookies
- In a large bowl whisk together the all purpose flour, almond flour (please note almond flour not ground almonds or chopped) and sugar.
- then add the egg yolk, butter and vanilla, mix together with a fork.
- When almost combined move to a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a ball, you may need to knead a bit to bring it together, but it does come together.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
- Remove the dough from the fridge, again on a lightly floured surface, roll into a 1/4 inch rectangle.
- Cut out cookies using your favourite cut outs.
- Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 6 minutes.
- Do not let the cookies brown!
- Let cool completely and then sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar.
How to freeze Almond Cookies and How long will they keep
I would reccommend freezing the cookies without the powdered sugar. Place the cookies in a single layer between parchment paper, be sure to store in an air tight container or a freezer bag.
Cookies will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
If you aren’t going to freeze the cookies then store them in an airtight container and they should last up to 5 days.
Almond Cookies
How to make Almond Flour
I use blanched almonds to make my Almond Flour, place about 1/4 cup of almonds at a time in a food processor and pulse until powdered (like flour), remove to a clean jar and continue until all almonds are ground.
The Almond Flour should be stored in a cool dark place and in an air tight container (a Mason Jar for example). It will keep for up to a year.
Almond flour isn’t a type of milled flour, it is just finely ground almonds.
More Delicious Almond Recipes
Panettone Italian Christmas Sweet Bread
So if you are starting to bake your cookies for the Holidays or just thinking about it I hope you give these Italian Almond Cookies a try. Enjoy!
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon almond flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoon butter (softened)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
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In a large bowl whisk together the flours and sugar then make a well in the middle and add the egg yolk, butter and vanilla, mix with a fork until almost combined.
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Move to a lightly floured flat surface and gently knead into a compact ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
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Pre-heat oven to 350 F (180C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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Remove the dough from the fridge and on a lightly floured flat surface roll into a 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick rectangle, with your favourite cookie cutter cut out cookies (I used mini cutters and got a lot of cookies, the first photo I used a medium round cutter and I got 15 cookies).
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Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet and bake for approximately 6 minutes (for mini cookies) approximately 8 - 10 minutes for larger. Do not let the cookies brown. Let cool on cookie sheet, then dust with powdered / icing sugar. Enjoy!
Janice says
Could we frost these using a sugar cookie icing?
Rosemary says
Hi Janice, that sounds like a good idea. Let me know how it goes.
LaLa says
The dough was crumbly, never congealed fully after 8 hours in the refrigerator. I used the warmth of my hands, but it was a mess. Little to no taste and were extremely fragile. Disappointing.
Rosemary says
Hi Lala, Im sorry the cookie didn’t work for you, but when I got your comment, the first thing I did was remake the recipe, because I take my recipes and my blog very seriously and I need to make sure that it does in fact work. And if you look at the first photo in the post those are the cookies I remade. So the dough works and comes together perfectly. I think that you used ground (finely chopped) almonds and not almond flour. 🙂
Cheri says
Hi Lala, my experience with crumbly dough was similar to yours. I added an egg white and it became soft and sticky. Also added almond extract and some lemon zest. This batch I rolled into a ball. Next one I’ll roll and cut out shapes. Hope this helps.
Rosemary says
Hi Cheri, I am at a total loss on why there is so much trouble with this dough, I have made it a number of times and it always comes together. Are you measuring your flour by spooning it into the cup measurement and then levelling it off with a knife? Because if you scoop it, you usually end up with more flour. Let me know.
Nicole says
Should almond flour or all purpose flour be used for this recipe? I saw instructions on how to make almond flour, but the recipe calls for all purpose. They look delicious!
Rosemary says
Hi Nicole, there’s actually both all purpose and almond flour in the recipe. Thanks I hope you like them. 🙂