Pain d’Amande (Almond Thin Cookies)
User Reviews
5
-
Prep Time
10 mins
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chilling time
6 hrs
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Total Time
18 mins
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Servings
20
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Course
Dessert
Pain d’Amande (Almond Thin Cookies)
Description
This almond cookie recipe begins with combining flour, baking soda, and salt, which are sifted together for even mixing. Meanwhile, butter, turbinado sugar, and warm water are gently heated with cinnamon and nutmeg until the butter melts and the sugar partially dissolves, creating a rich flavored base. After cooling, the dry ingredients are stirred into the butter mixture to form a thick dough.
Blanched and peeled almonds are folded into the dough to add crunch and pronounced almond flavor. The dough is firmly pressed into a greased loaf pan, then tightly wrapped and refrigerated for at least 6 hours to ensure it firms enough for very thin slicing. The dough is cut into four logs before slicing cookies as thin as possible (around 1/8 inch or thinner) and placed spaced apart on parchment-lined sheets.
The cookies bake until crisp and lightly golden, resulting in delicate wafers with a balance of sweet, buttery, and spiced almond notes. The recipe yields approximately 100 cookies, making it suitable for sharing or holiday baking. These cookies can be stored for some time and serve well as a light, crunchy treat with tea or coffee.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- salt pinch
- ½ cup butter unsalted, cut into small cubes, quantity 1 stick
- 1 ½ cups turbinado sugar sugar in the raw
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg pinch
- ⅓ cup water plus 1 tablespoon
- 1 cup almonds blanched and skinned
Instructions
- Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Place butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until butter melts and sugar is semi dissolved. Remove from heat and cool for about 15 minutes.
- Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated and a thick dough forms.
- Fold in almonds.
- Firmly press dough into a lightly greased (9”x 5”) loaf pan (one with straight sides would be best).
- Press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the pressed dough and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 2 days (the dough needs to be very firm).
- Preheat oven to 325˚F.
- Remove chilled dough from loaf pan and cut in half crosswise and then lengthwise (so you have four pieces).
- Using a sharp knife, slice cookies as thin as possible (⅛ inch or thinner) from one of the logs and place them onto 2 parchment lined baking sheets, about 1 ½ inches apart.
- Bake cookies (one baking sheet at a time) for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Flip each cookie over and continue to bake for another 7 to 8 minutes or until cookies are a honey to golden brown color and have crisped up (they will crisp up completely as they cool more).
- Remove cookies from oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
- Repeat steps 9-11 with the remaining cookie dough.
- Once cookies have cooled completely serve or store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
Notes
- This recipe yields about 100 thin almond cookies.
- Blanch and peel almonds before use for the best texture and appearance.
- Chilling the dough for at least 6 hours is essential to firm it for thin slicing and baking.
- Slice cookies as thinly as possible, about 1/8 inch or less, for proper crispness.
- Use a loaf pan with straight sides to press the dough evenly.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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