I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE almond flavored treats. Almond croissants, the almond frosting that my Nana makes on Yulekaag, Sand Bakkels, Swedish Sugar Toast, and Swedish Kringler. Do you see the trend here too? I think my Swedish-Norwegian heritage must have something to do with my love of almond flavor. I don’t know that almond is this predominant in Swedish-Norwegian cooking, especially sweets and pastries but it certainly did seem to be the predominant flavor in those recipes that were passed down in my family. One day, I will remember and make some of Nana’s almond recipes for the blog. But since we’re in the middle of hunting season, today is about cookies. When I was looking for cookies for hunting season and saw these Almond Meltaways from The Novice Chef, I just had to try them.
They are a soft, tender cookie full of almond flavor and topped with an almond glaze. What could be better?
Here’s what you need:
This cookie starts like most other cookies by creaming together room temperature butter and sugar. These are light cookies so we’re only using regular white sugar, no brown sugar. Once the creamed butter and sugar is nice and fluffy (after about 3-5 minutes), beat in some almond extract and an egg. Finally, stir in the dry ingredients – which I had premeasured in a cookie kit to make my pre-hunting baking easier (helpful when you make 3 matches of cookies and 2-3 kinds of bars in one night) – flour, baking powder, and salt.
Scoop about 2 teaspoons of dough on to a parchment lined cookie sheet, a cookie scoop works well and gets you a consistent size scoop. Use two fingers to gently flatten the dough.
Bake at 375 for 8 minutes until the cookies look set – these cookies won’t look browned but remember we want a nice, tender cookie. Cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are cooled make the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract. I made a little more glaze and after tasting it, kicked up the almond flavor a little more than the original recipe called for.
Spoon about a teaspoon of the glaze onto each cookie.
Allow to set on the wire racks until the glaze hardens.
Store in an airtight container with rows separated by waxed paper.
- Cookie:
- 2 c flour
- ½ t baking powder
- ¼ t salt
- 2 sticks (1 c) butter, room temperature
- ¾ c sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 t almond extract
- Glaze:
- 1 ½ c powdered sugar
- 2 T milk
- 2 ¼ t almond extract
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and almond and beat until combined.
- Add flour mixture in three to four additions, stirring until just combined.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop 2 teaspoons of cookie dough at a time until the lined baking sheets. Gently flatten using two fingers.
- Bake for 8 minutes, cookies will just barely be golden around the edges. Cool on pan for 3 minutes and then move to wire rack to cool completely.
- Whisk together the sugar, milk and almond extract until smooth. Use a spoon to spread 1-2 t of glaze onto each cookie. Allow to sit on the wire racks until glaze is set.
- Store cookies in an air tight container, separating layers with waxed paper or parchment.
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