These Almond Shortbread Cookies are the most delicious, buttery and crumbly cookies ever. Perfect for Christmas and the Holidays, these cut-out Almond Meal Cookies are super easy to make from 6 ingredients only and can be decorated in many fun ways!
Place the sifted Flour, Almond Meal and Icing Sugar in the bowl of your food processor (see note 1 if making by hands) and pulse to combine and remove any lumps.
Add the very cold Butter cut into small cubes and process until you get fine crumbs.
Add the Egg Yolk and Almond Essence and process until the dough starts to come together (see note 2).
Place the shortbread dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll it to a 4mm - 1/6 inch thickness (see note 3). Place over a flat tray and leave in the fridge to rest and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat your oven on 160'C/320'F and line a large baking tray or cookie tray with baking paper.
Cut out the cookies with your choice of cookie cutter and place them on the baking tray (see note 4).
Bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool down on the baking tray for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack (see note 5).
Re-roll and chill any leftover dough and repeat the process until all the cookie dough has been baked. Leave plain or decorate as you want.
Notes
Disclaimer: I highly recommend using the measurements in grams for the most accurate and best results.Yield: this recipe will make a large batch of 30 cookies. You can divide it by half for a smaller batch, but you will need to approximatively measure 1/2 of an egg yolk.Instruction Notes:
The shortbread cookies can be made by hands if you don't have a food processor. Follow the same process but crumb the dry ingredients and cold cubed butter by hands using your fingers (or using a pastry blender/cutter). Knead in the Egg Yolk and Almond Essence until you get a soft, smooth dough.
The dough is mixed enough when soft and smooth. If you press it, the dough should stick together.
For a perfectly even thickness, use a rolling pin with thickness rings. You can roll the dough slightly thicker than 4mm - 1/6 inch if preferred (the cookies might need a couple more minutes in the oven), but I don't recommend rolling it thiner that this.
If the dough seem to crack when you cut out the cookies, leave it at room temperature for a couple of minutes. If the dough gets too soft to handle, place it back in the fridge (or freezer) for a few minutes. The cookies should not spread in the oven so they can be place relatively close to each other on the tray.
The cookies will be slightly soft when they come out of the oven - it's normal. They will harden when they cool down.