Finally, it’s time for the fourth recipe from “Julie & Julia Project” aka baking through the “Dessert Person” cookbook. This one took me a while but I was looking forward to making these Marcona almond cookies. It’s an easy recipe but you might find the ingredients tricky. That is Marcona almonds (type of almonds I’ve never heard about) and almond paste. You can order both on Amazon. Would be easier rather than wandering around different grocery stores.
As usual, if you’re in the mood of reading about my feelings, anger, and irritation with myself and especially the photos I took of these Marcona almond cookies, scroll after the recipe card. But for now, let’s go straight to the recipe.
How to make Marcona Almond Cookies
As I’ve mentioned above the recipe is simple. In fact, it’s assigned a level of difficulty to one by Claire meaning it’s a very easy one. However, you would need a food processor. I’ve used my small Ninja blender and it was a challenge. It did a pretty good job at coarsely chopping the almonds but not that good one with the almond paste.
There are only 5 ingredients: Marcona almonds, almond paste, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. What makes these cookies a perfect quick dessert or snack option is that there is no need to chill the dough or waiting till eggs are at room temperature. Simply blend everything together, arrange the piping bag (won’t lie, that was tricky), assemble 24 beautiful round cookies on the baking sheet, press whole almonds in them, bake for less than 12 minutes, and enjoy. I mean, how easy is that? Not to mention, they are super delicious as well.
Marcona Almond Cookies
Quick, easy, and delicious almond cookies with the salty touch from Marcona almonds and the sweetness of the almond paste.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (118g) Marcona almonds, plus about 24 whole almonds for topping
- 1 (198g) tube almond paste (not marzipan) coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup sugar (50g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven and prepare the baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat and set it aside.
- Make the dough. In a food processor, pulse 118g Marcona almonds until coarsely chopped. Add the almond paste, sugar, vanilla extract, one whole egg, and one egg white (spare the egg yolk in a small bowl for later). Process the mixture in long pulses till you get a smooth dough.
- Make the egg wash. Add two tablespoons of water to the small bowl with egg yolk. Whisk it with the fork to combine and use later as an egg wash.
- Assemble the cookies. To portion the dough into small cookies you can either use a piping bag or a rounded tablespoon. Use a pastry brush to cover the entire surface of the cookie with egg wash, then press a whole almond into the center of each one.
- Bake. Bake the cookies until they are golden brown and puffed for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before transferring them from the baking sheet. Try to carefully peel them off from the parchment paper or the Silpat.
- Enjoy.
Notes
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days. You can also put the baked cookies in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- If you can't find Marcona almonds, you can substitute them for roasted salted cashews.
A bit about the anger and other feelings
I was angry when I was writing this post today. Part of that anger came from the thoughts in my head that this project is stupid. What do I wish to accomplish by doing it? Write a cookbook? Become a professional blogger or food photographer. Don’t know about the first one but for the latter, the quality of the photos I took of these Marcona almond cookies prove the opposite. I know it’s only a beginning but I doubt there can be some improvement considering the fact that I was shooting cookies on a marble table (every food photographer’s dream) with a 50mm lens. I know these photos didn’t do justice to the cookies. And I have no clue how can I possibly make them better in the future.
Anger, irritation and disbelief. That’s my three buddies for the day.
The next recipe is supposed to be the chocolate cake but for now, I have no wish to think about baking it. Next week is my 27th birthday. No happy feelings about it either. On this sad note, I hope you’re having a better day, and thank you for reading this.
