Almond Paste Cookies - So Good, People Will Steal Them From Santa's Plate
Ingredients
- 2 Cups of Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons of Soft Almond Paste
- 1 Egg
- 2 Cups of Pure Lard
- 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon of Almond Extract
- 5 Cups of Sifted Brodie Self Raising Flour
Instructions
- Move your oven rack into the center slot.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- In a large mixing bowl blend the sugar, almond paste & the egg until the almond paste is well blended.
- Add the lard, vanilla, & almond extract then beat until light.
- Add flour in a little bit at a time mixing well after each addition.
- Shape dough into 1-1/2" balls.
- Place them onto a tinfoil covered cookie sheet.
- Flatten the centers with your finger tip.
- Place an almond slice onto the center of each cookie.
- Put the cookie sheet onto the center rack in the oven.
- Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees.
- Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until golden.
Almond Cookie Recipe
This is the almond cookie recipe that we used every year at Christmas time. These were the cookies that we would leave out on a plate for Santa Clause. One Christmas we made the mistake of putting them out before our grandparents had left.
When my sister got up to use the bathroom she caught my grandfather eating Santa's cookies! She refused to go back to bed until our parents replaced the cookies and she was quite upset with grandpa. Stealing from Santa, on Christmas Eve, she thought he was better than that. Plus how would it look when Santa showed up and thinks we didn't leave him any cookies.
When I found out in the morning what had happened, I was mad as well. We could both understand why he would want them, as they are delicious, which makes them very hard to resist. That didn't prevent us from being mad at our grandfather.
To avoid ruining Christmas, please be sure not to leave these out for Santa until all of your guests have gone home for the evening.
