Almond Butter Cookies

Cookies baked at home bring a sweet aroma to the house and smiles to family as they pass through the center of the home, the kitchen! The following almond butter cookie recipe makes about 30 cookies to ensure cookies travel outside the home to friends too! This recipe has completed my search for a recipe for cut out cookies to bake for all occasions. I have several cookie cutters with different messages on them…Happy ‘whatever the occasion’ it may be! As for decorating, I like to keep it simple. I also seem to never have enough time, so my cookies with a message are often dipped in melted chocolate (white / dark / milk) on the back of the cookie so the message can still be read. When I’m quick to dip, I sprinkle the cookies with decorative sugar on the melted chocolate before the chocolate hardens. Almond butter cookies are, however, often enjoyed without any icing or chocolate to appreciate their unique flavor!

Oven Temperature: 375 F

Cook time: 9 minutes

Servings: 30 (3 inch diameter, 1/4 inch thickness cut out cookies)

Ingredients:

6 cups all purpose flour (optional – gluten free flour blend – Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour brand preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (if using salted butter, omit the 2 tsp salt)

Instructions:

Cream together the sugar and butter in a large bowl until very light and fluffy.
Mix in eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt. It may look separated and curdled at first. Beat until very well combined and blends together smoothly.
Add the flour and beat at low speed to avoid a flour shower. Beat until combined.
Separate the dough into 2 discs. Place each dough disc on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove 1 disc of flour from the refrigerator. I like to roll half of the disc out at a time, keeping the other half wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll the dough out to 1/4 “ thickness (I purchased a rolling pin with bands for precise thickness). I place parchment paper onto the surface that I am rolling on; I also place parchment paper on top of the dough so that it does not stick to the rolling pin. I sprinkle powdered sugar on the rolling surface and dip my cookie cutter into a small bowl of powdered sugar in between each time I cut a cookie. Carefully use a small spatula to transfer the cookies to the parchment lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Warmed dough spreads more during baking so I keep the dough in the refrigerator until ready to roll out and bake.
Bake for 9 minutes. I do not let the cookie edges turn brown when baking gluten free…or they will be over done!
Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring from the baking sheet.

This recipe is adapted from mamagourmand.com and Sweet Elite Cookie Cutters.