Neddy’s Kitchen

GOLDEN ALMOND COOKIES

6 hard boiled egg yolks, mashed.
3/4 pound softened butter (3 sticks)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp almond flavoring
2 1/2 cups flour (sifted)
1/2 cup ground almond meal (if not available increase regular flour to 3 cups)

Cream butter, adding sugar gradually. Add egg yolks and almond flavoring. Add flour and almond meal slowly, mixing well, but DO NOT OVERKNEAD.

Using a cookie shooter, press dough about 2 inches across onto a silicon or parchment-lined baking sheet. Press an almond, small chocolate morsel or 1/2 a maraschino cherry in the center of each one. Bake at 400 degrees until the edges are JUST brown, 10-12 minutes. Any more than that, and they are overbaked. Makes six dozen cookies (inspired by http://neddy.wordpress.com/2005/12/23/christmas-baking/).

Almond Cookies
Originally uploaded by barneykin

I cannot recollect where I learned about this recipe. Long, long ago someone made these delicious spice cookies and told me that the recipe was from the Brer Rabbit molasses bottle. I call them ginger snaps because I doubled the amount of ginger and increased the flour by 1/2 cup to make them crispy instead of chewy.

BRER RABBIT’s MOLASSES COOKIES

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup Brer Rabbit molasses
2 cups flour for chewy cookies (I use 2 1/2 cups flour for crispy cookies.)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt or bring butter to room temperature. Stir in sugar and molasses, then add egg and beat well. Sift together the dry ingredients and mix with the first mixture. Chill several hours. Roll into 1- inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until bottom is lightly brown.