German Almond Cookies
You will love these moist vegan and gluten-free almond cookies. They look pretty and are easy to make.
We arrived in Amsterdam in 1972, and I was excited to experience many new foods. One of them was marzipan, a delicious sweet made from ground almonds and sugar, and I quickly became a fan of marzipan.
Even though westerners know marzipan from Holland and German cuisines, this tasty sweet originates in China or the Middle East.
Back to my Netherlands marzipan obsession. I would eat marzipan in flat sugar cookies with a mound of marzipan called Gevulde Koeken. Or, in December, I would search out a slice of marzipan sandwiched between two gingerbread cookies called Gevulde Speculaaskoeken.”YUM!
A few years later, we moved to Germany, and my marzipan addiction continued: Marzipan Stollen, a sweet yeasted raisin bread with a roll of marzipan in the center. And then there Is the incredible Mozart Kugeln, a ball of three varieties of marzipan plus hazelnut nougat and completely covered by milk and dark chocolate. WOW!
Since then, I have cut down my refined sugar Intake to almost none.
However, these German Almond Cookies fill my longing for marzipan. No refined sugar, vegan and gluten-free!
Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
DRY:
WET:
NOTES:
- Choose only natural and certified organic extracts for your baking and cooking needs. Don’t be fooled by clever artificial flavor marketing.
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare a cookie sheet with with parchment paper or a silicone sheet.
- Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and break up any clumps with an electric beater. Or shift dry ingredients together.
- Add the liquid ingredients. Mix with electric beater for 5 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl occasionally.
- Portion out small amounts of dough onto a cookie sheet, using a cookie scoop. Dip scoop into warm water occasionally when dough sticks. I use a 35 mm/1 tablespoon cookie scoop to easily form uniform, two-bite cookies.
- Flatten each cookie lightly with a moistened palm.
- Press down the cookie slightly and top with a whole almond.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes then continue to cool on rack.
