Time Travel Kitchen

Let’s Bake

I said to my friend Leigh this week that from September until the end of December feels like a baking marathon.

September and October are the training months, checking what’s out of date in the pantry, buying fresh baking powder, strengthening our baking muscles when Autumn starts with Crumbles and Crisps.

Then, it’s showtime and celebrations at various finish lines during November and December, culminating with New Year’s Eve.

It got me thinking that the next couple of months would be a good time to share some favorite traditional and vintage cookie recipes with you to add to your own collection.

These are recipes for cookies that travel and keep well if you’re planning to give or send boxes to friends and family.

So, let’s bake. Who’s in?

Write me in the comments if you’ll be baking along with me. It will be fun and I promise you’ll have a gorgeous cookie selection for both home entertaining and gifting this year.

One of my favorite cookies is a traditional Italian almond cookie called Pasticcini di Mandorla, ‘almond pastry’.

There’s a terrific article and recipe about this cookie by the wonderful chef, cookbook author and food writer, Domenica Marchetti that I’ve linked to here:

Pasticcini di Mandorla

https://www.italymagazine.com/recipe/Pasticcini-di-mandorla

Domenica has also written the book, Ciao Biscotti: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Celebrating Italy’s Favorite Cookie that is a favorite of mine.

Another recipe for the cookie (pictured above) is one I’ve made for my brother’s restaurant here in Chicago.

Both recipes are made with almond flour, making them a delicious treat for anyone who does not eat gluten.

The Recipe:

Ingredients

- 3 cups almond flour

- 3/4 cup sugar

- pinch of salt

- 3 medium or 2 large egg whites

- 1/4 tsp almond extract

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- Zest of a small to medium sized lemon

- 2 dozen whole almonds

- Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

- Pre-heat oven to 350F

- Line sheet pan with parchment paper

- Combine almond flour, salt, sugar and zest in a large bowl, mix with spoon or spatula

- In a small bowl combine egg whites, and the vanilla and almond extract

- Combine with dry ingredients and stir

- Gently use your hands to bring dough together

- Take quarter-sized pieces of dough and roll into balls. Makes 22-24

- On a plate with sifted confectioners sugar, roll each one till covered in the sugar. Add more sugar to the plate as needed

- Place on sheet pan and place whole almond on each. Press almond down slightly

- Bake for 12-15 minutes till lightly browned then cool completely on rack

- Store in airtight container up to a week

Looking forward to baking with you and leave any questions in the comments.

Have a great weekend!

Jolene