Other than fruits, Chinese cuisine does not typically include a lot of sweet items. Diners in the West expect all kinds of cakes, pies, and other sweet desserts to end a meal with. To fill this unfamiliar need, Chinese restaurants outside of China would put a bowl of pineapple on the table surrounded by “fortune cookies” and this simple favorite, Chinese almond cookies. The cookies are a great way to serve a light and crunchy post-meal treat without needing to make a fancy dessert.

Cantonese Almond Cookies

These light almond flavored cookies make for a pleasant end to a heavy meal. They're very easy to make and freeze well. In fact, they are great eaten frozen right from the freezer.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Canton, Chinese, Southern China

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Resting dough: 1

Total Time: 1 25

Servings: cookies

Author: My Hungry Traveler

Equipment

Food processor
Large baking pan

Ingredients

2¾ cups All-purpose flour
1 cup Sugar
½ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Salt
1 cup European butter, chilled and diced
1 large Egg, beaten
1 tsp Almond extract
48 whole Almonds, skinless

Instructions

Make Dough – Add flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. Add cold butter cubes and pulse until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add egg and almond extract and pulse a few times to combine. Make into a ball and wrap and chill for an hour or more.
Form Cookies – Preheat oven to 325°F. Roll dough into a long snake and slice off enough to make 1-inch balls. Set balls 2-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Stick an almond in the center each and press down to flatten slightly.
Bake Cookies – In the preheated oven until cookie edges begin to turn golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on the tray.