Quick and Delicious Cookie

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Dessert is a challenge. Since so  many people are watching their waistline, cutting back on sugar and/or trying to eat healthier — serving a dessert that meets these criteria is a challenge. Thankfully my husband likes to chop fruit – it’s his time relax and join me in the kitchen. His fruit salads are a huge hit with family and friends — and healthy, too. So my task is to make a little something to accompany his fruit salad. Taking the lead from a chef friend who suggested that three bites of dessert is the ideal serving (unless you have a sweet tooth). I’ve been experimenting small bite desserts and have fallen in love with macaroons and this almond puff recipe. The ground almonds are heavenly. And three bites leaves you savoring the flavor without sacrificing your workout and waistline.

Almond-Lemon Macaroons (Almendrados)

Makes about 30 cookies

Plan ahead the dough needs to chill for 12 hours.

Ingredients

2 cups whole blanched almonds, plus about 30 for decoration
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
zest of one lemon

Preparation

1. In a food processor with a metal blade, finely grind two cups of almonds. Add 3/4 cup of sugar, the egg and lemon zest. Pulse to incorporate into a dough. Transfer the dough to a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
2. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Pinch off pieces of the chilled dough into pieces the size of a walnut and roll into balls. Roll the balls in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet. Gently press the decorative almond into the center and reshape if necessary. The recipe calls for pressing an almond point first into the top of each cookie, so that half the almond can be seen.  Arrange the cookies one inch apart on the baking sheet.
4. Note: I made my cookies a bit smaller and since they do not spread while baking was able to get all the cookies on a large cookie sheet.
5. Bake for between 8 and 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets. Don’t touch them until they’re cool. This makes them firm and crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

I found this recipe in the New York Times recipe archives when I was looking for Passover ideas.  The recipe is adapted from Dulce lo Vivas,” by Ana Bensadón (Ediciones Martínez Roca). This Spanish-language cookbook features classic Sefardi bakery items.

Do you have a go-to dessert?

Thank you for joining us in the kitchen!

Enjoyed this post? See these:

1. Quick and Delicious Cookie Recipe – Scrumptious Almond Puffs
2. The best oatmeal cookie recipe – ever!
3. Thrifty Thursday – baking for the holidays

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Tags: almond lemon macaroons, cookie, macaroons, passover dessert, simple dessert

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 7:02 am and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.