Triple Almond Cookies - total time 1 hour

Happy Winter Solstice!  It was actually sunny today, but it has already been dark for hours (it is making me so tired).  The darkest day of the year means the more sunshine in every day after!  :)

Hope you're wrapping up on your holiday related shopping, baking, and giving, we just celebrated Christmas with my husband's family over the weekend.  I was planning on making my mom's famous "melting moments" cookies made with almond extract.  It took so long for her to share her recipe with me since it is one of those family secrets you just can't share willy nilly.  I looked through my old recipe box that holds tried and true recipes I wrote down before I started this blog and before I had my recipe binder... I could not find the recipe!

At that point I had it in my head that I needed to make these cookies, I could almost taste them.  During our vacation in Europe, I realized I pretty much love any almond related pastry!  So I had to make some kind of almond cookie... came up with this recipe... and it was a hit at our early Christmas... and since it isn't a family secret recipe, I can share it with you!

These cookies have three different almond layers to make sure to satisfy that almond craving!  It starts with the crumbly, almondy, shortbread-like cookie.  Inside is a pocket of almond paste (new discovery!) that gives the cookie that soft, almost gooey center I love in cookies.  And to finish it off with an almond sugar glaze.  If you like almond, you'll love these cookies!  (Then try it with coffee!)


Cookie
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup butter
.75 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
.5 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp almond extract

Almond Paste Center
1 8 oz can almond paste
.5 cup sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp almond extract

Almond Glaze
1.5 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start with making the cookie part by whipping butter and sugar together in your mixer.  Incorporate egg, almond extract, and baking powder at a slower speed (you don't want whipped egg to make a fluffy cookie).  Then add flour about a half cup at a time.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and store in your refrigerator (or freezer) until later.
2.  On to the almond paste center... mix almond paste, milk, yolk, sugar, and almond extract together in your mixture.  Roll into small, half inch balls.
3.  Bring out your cookie dough from the fridge, chunk pieces of dough, shape them into discs, then add the almond paste center, and wrap the cookie dough disc around the almond paste.  Roll the ball in your hands to seal everything together and place on a lined cookie sheet.
4.  Bake for 17 minutes and let cool.
5.  While the cookies cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract into the glaze.  Drizzle the glaze over the cookies and let the glaze harden for about 15 minutes before transferring cookies.  Enjoy!

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