At Home: Chocolate Almond Sugar Cookies

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This next installment of What Micky Eats...At Home features my use of a new embossed rolling pin that I received from Jessica of Embossed Co. to add some flare to my baking creations. Being a HuMom to my sweet Babka, she sent me the "Paw Prints" design, which I found to be super cute!  With Halloween coming up, I thought I'd emphasize the paw prints design by making a cat-shaped cookie, and use cocoa powder mixed into my flour for a darker color. To punch up the bitter sweetness of the cocoa powder, I combined it with almond extract to create these Chocolate Almond Sugar Cookies.

There are many different sugar cookies recipes out there - ranging from soft and chewy to crisp and biscuity.  I modified my basic sugar cookie recipe for this chocolaty version; yields 24-36 regular size cookies (depending on your cutter size).

Chocolate Almond Sugar Cookies

• 3/4 cups butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teasp almond extract
• 1½ cups flour
• 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teasp salt
• ½ teasp baking powder

- Beat together butter and sugar for about 2 minutes until fluffy.

- Add the egg and almond extract and mix for an additional minute.

- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder, and then add the dry mix slowly to the wet until well combined.

- Divide dough in half and roll out each onto a piece of parchment paper with a regular rolling pin, about 1/4 inch thick.
- Optional: Use the embossed rolling pin to roll the design over with one pass, using medium pressure. If dough sticks, use cocoa powder on the pin while rolling.
- Place each rolled piece of dough carefully on top of one another (with parchment paper in between) and chill in the fridge for an hour.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- Remove dough from fridge and cut desired shapes, placing them about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Re-roll leftover pieces and re-cut to use up the remaining dough.

- Bake cookies for 10 minutes, rotating after 5 minutes.

- Remove cookies from oven and let rest for additional 5 minutes on the pan.
- Transfer to a wire rack and allow cookies to completely cool.

- Can be stored in airtight container, up to one week.

My cat cookies came out great and the combination of chocolate and almond was delicious.  Keith loved these too, and thought they were not overly sweet and would be perfect with tea or coffee in the morning. I look forward to using my paw print embossed rolling pin on pie crusts and other baking creations.

Floral Design from Embossed Co.

Made from 100% pure high-grade solid beech wood, the pins come in a variety of designs and are also 100% food-safe and free of BPA or any other toxic substances.  I found it easy to roll and easy to clean with a little water.  These rolling pins make unique and touching gifts for any person or occasion. And what I love even more about Embossed Co. is that they donate 15% of their profit to several non-profit organizations that work to supply healthy meals to malnourished families in impoverished communities in developing countries. As a result, your purchase of one of the rolling pins will help create significant positive impact for some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.  Check out Jessica's other designs and use my code: WHATMICKYEATS15 for 15% off an embossed rolling pin now through November 3, 2019.