Chinese Almond Cookies

The Chinese Almond Cookies recipe is from Pichet Ong's cookbook "The Sweet Spot: Asian-Inspired Desserts."  Almond cookies to Chinese people is similar to how chocolate chip cookies are to Americans; it's one of our notorious dessert items. People can find them in Chinese bakeries and supermarkets.

Personally, I'm not a fan of almond cookies. However, if they were homemade then maybe they would taste better. Also, Pichet Ong knows his dessert so why not:

Ingredients
1 ¾ cups (9 2/3 oz / 272 g) A/P flour
1 cup plus 2 tbsps (7 3/8 oz / 210 g) sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 ¼ cups (4 2/3 oz / 132 g) almond flour
1 cup (8 oz / 226 g) unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes and chilled
½ tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp almond extract
½ cup slivered almonds
1 large egg white, beaten

1.    Sift together the flour, sugar, and baking soda and set aside.
2.    Put the almond flour, butter and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the mixture resembles cornmeal, about 3 mins. With the machine running, add the egg and almond extract and mix until well incorporated. Turn the speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix just until no traces of flour remain.
3.    Transfer the dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a 1-inch-thick disk, and wrap tightly in the plastic. Refrigerate until hard, at least 30 mins or up to 3 days.
4.    When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5.    Form the dough into ½ inch balls and put 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Use the palm of your hand to press the balls into 1-inch circles. Press 4 slivered almonds into each cookie, arranging them decoratively to form an X. Brush the tops of the cookie with the egg white.
6.    Bake the cookies until golden and crisp around the edges, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheets on a cooling rack. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

It's easiest to work with a scale but my scale has a few idiosyncrasies so I was halfway through with the recipe before remembering to take more pictures.

They're ready to go into the oven. 

Can you see the glisten of the egg white?

 Fresh out!

Cookies galore!

I didn't follow Ong's advice of decorating the cookies with slivered almonds in an X-form. Laziness played a hand in that. This is how almond cookies in bakeries and stores would look like; with one big almond in the center and the color of the cookie would be a bit more orange, depending on where you purchase them.

These cookies are a keeper! They're much softer than the store-bought almond cookies but that's probably because these are homemade. The almond cookies remained soft even after a few days. I couldn't stop snacking on these and those that have received some were lucky. They were that yummy!