I can count on one hand the amount of times I've ever had marzipan. And by one hand, I mean one finger. Up until a year ago, I couldn't even have told you what marzipan actually was. For those of you who are as out of the loop as I had been, marzipan is essentally just almond paste mixed with powdered sugar. Then it turns into this soft, plyable dough that is filled with a luscious punch of almond.
If you're not a fan of almond, this is not the cookie for you because there's almond in literally every element of this treat. It's stuffed with almond paste, there's almond flour and almond extract in the cookie itself, and the entire cookie is rolled in crushed almonds. If you're looking for a new cookie to add to the Christmas cookie rotation this year, this one is it!
Servings: 2 dozen
Prep Time: 40 min
Total Time: 1 hr
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cookie...
2 cups flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
For the Filling...
7 oz almond paste
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup powdered sugar (+ more as needed)
1 cup sliced almonds, slightly crushed
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a pair of baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
Using a mixer, combine sugar, brown sugar, and cream cheese in a large bowl. Add melted butter and vegetable oil and mix until smooth.
Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts.
With the mixer on its slowest speed, add the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and combine until incorporated. Place bowl of dough in the refrigerator as you work on the filling.
To make the filling, knead together the almond paste, corn syrup and powdered sugar until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar if the mixture is still extremely sticky after incorporating the corn syrup.
Form the almond paste dough into small disks about the size of a quarter and about 1/4 inch thick.
Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and spoon out the dough by the tablespoon. Split the ball of dough in half and lightly flatten each half in the palm of your hand. Place one almond paste disk in the center of one half of the divided dough ball. Place the other half of the dough on top of the disk and seal the edges to make a smooth, flattened ball. Press each flattened ball into the crushed almonds on both sides and place on the prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart.
Bake 10 minutes. The tops will be fluffed up and the edges will just start to show some color. Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack. As the cookie cools, the top of each cookie will deflate and flatten.
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