At Home: Buttery Almond Cookies

For this year's 4th Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I decided to make Buttery Almond Cookies as a gift from What Micky Eats...At Home.  I just love the flavor of almonds and it is really kicked up in this recipe with the use of real sliced almonds and almond extract.  There are many variations of this classic holiday cookie, but I think mine is pretty easy and uses no eggs nor milk - just lots of butter, hence the name.  This recipe is great to make large quantities for a cookie exchange such as this one.

I participated in this cookie swap last year and knew I wanted to sign up again this year.  The basic idea is to send out 1 dozen cookies to 3 food bloggers that you've been matched up with, and then you get to receive 3 different types of cookies from 3 different people that have been assigned to you. But the best part about this year's swap is that both Lindsay and Julie organized all this to support Cookies for Kids' Cancer. So with a cookie swap registration fee of $4, every dollar goes directly to this charity - raising over $12,000 this year. How awesome is that?

Buttery Almond Cookies (Makes 6 dozen)

• 2 cups butter, softened
• 1½ cups sugar
• 2 teasp almond extract
• 4 cups flour
• 1 teasp baking powder
• ¼ teasp salt
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• colored sugar for decorating

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and almond extract on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture and the sliced almonds to the butter mixture until completely combined.
- Roll into small balls and dip top half in colored sugar.
- Place each ball on a lined cookie sheet; flatten slightly.
- Bake for 8 minutes and then remove from oven.  Cookies will look soft.
- Cool cookies completely.

I made more than the required amount for my cookie swap because I wanted some for myself too, duh!  The mixture will be very buttery and easy to roll into balls.  I used blue sugar crystals to dip them in to add that extra hint of holiday sparkle.  The almond scent is not too strong, and accents the buttery taste of these cookies.

I packed them up for my cookie swap matches and mailed one dozen (plus a couple extra for good measure) to each food blogger the next day.  I hope they arrived intact and that my matches enjoyed them.

 

In return, I received Mint Chocolate Brussels Cookies from The Cookie Rookie and Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels from Cooking on the Front Burner.  I had not received my third box of cookies yet by the time of this posting.  (Hope they come soon!)

The cookies were all delicious and I look forward to participating in next year's Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  Check out all the other cookies on Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram with hashtag #fbcookieswap.