Italian Almond Christmas Cookies

 

Italian Almond Christmas Cookies ( with dairy & egg free option)

Put out these cookies for Santa and he may never leave!!

This is the quickest and easiest Italian cookie recipe that I have ever made. Just throw all your ingredients into stand mixer, mix and voila!!

Roll them, add a thumb print and top with a candied cherry ..... or two.

Bake and eat!!!

You will need:

1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter (at room temperature) You can substitute for vegan margarine)

2 cups almond flour

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tbsps baking powder

2 large eggs at room temperature ( you can use egg replacer)

3/4 cup almond slivers or slices, toasted and roughly chopped 

1 tbsp almond extract

Toppings are optional and you can be creative.

I used about half a cup of green and red candied cherries, split in half

1/2 a cup of large round pieces of dark chocolate

Directions:

Put all your ingredients, except your cherry and chocolate toppings, into a large bowl or stand mixer. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and it becomes a soft dough. Should take about 2 minutes.

Using your hands, scoop out about a walnut size piece of dough and roll into a ball. Roll ball into chopped almonds and place onto tray lined with parchment paper.

Place a thumbprint in the middle of your dough ball and decorate with your candied cherries or chocolate pieces or both!

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes until slightly golden on the bottom.

Let cool on tray and then devour!!

* If you’ve baked the vegan version, they will be a bit more crumbly than usual but delicious nevertheless!