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Almond Cookies
1/2 cup butter 1 egg 1/3 cup almonds, blanched and finely chopped 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon Clove, Nutmeg} 1/2 tablespoon each Grated rind 1/2 lemon 2 tablespoons brandy 2 cups flour Cream the butter, add egg well beaten, almonds, sugar, brandy, and spices mixed and sifted with flour. Roll mixture to one-fourth inch in thickness, shape with a round cutter first dipped in flour, and bake in a slow oven.
A stiff, brandy-scented rolled cookie with no leavening at all, so it bakes flat and firm rather than puffing. The spice quantities are the one thing to read carefully before you start.
- Slow ovenA slow oven is usually reckoned at about 300 to 325F. These are thin, sugary, and full of chopped nuts; at 350F the edges brown before the centres set. Figure roughly 12 to 18 minutes, until the rounds are dry and just colouring at the rim.
- The spice measureHalf a tablespoon each of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg is 1.5 teaspoons apiece, a very heavy hand by modern taste, particularly for clove. The original brackets clove and nutmeg together but says "each," so as written that is 1.5 teaspoons of each of the three. Start with 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon and a scant half teaspoon each of clove and nutmeg unless you want a frankly medicinal cookie.
- No leaveningThere is no baking powder or soda, so the texture is closer to shortbread than to a soft drop cookie. Do not add leavening to compensate; the density is the point.
- The lemon rindThe ingredient list calls for the grated rind of half a lemon but the method never adds it. Work it in with the sugar and spices, where it will scent the dough evenly.
- Handling the doughTwo cups of flour against half a cup of butter and one egg gives a dry, crumbly mass that will resist the rolling pin. Press it together firmly, chill it for half an hour, and roll between sheets of parchment to keep it from cracking at the edges.
- AlmondsBlanched means skinned: cover in boiling water for a minute and slip the skins off, or buy blanched almonds. Chop them finely by hand rather than in a processor, which will turn them oily and make the dough greasy.
- BrandyTwo tablespoons is both flavouring and the only real liquid beyond the egg. Most of the alcohol bakes off. If you leave it out, replace it with the same volume of milk or the dough will not come together.
- YieldAbout three dozen cookies from a two-inch cutter. They keep well in a tin for a week or more and, like most spiced rolled cookies, improve after a day.