Very little wheat is grown in Alicante, Spain, but almond trees abound, so a number of traditional desserts in the region use ground almonds in place of—or to supplement—precious flour. The almond base gives these flourless cookies a wonderfully nutty flavor.
I thought I would do this recipe by blanching them myself, but gave up. They're good even with the skins still on. Yep, I gave up trying to get the skins off after peeling 32 which was perfect because that's exactly how many cookies I ended up with probably because I didn't use a tablespoon to measure them. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. The skins make it chewy, but that's my doing. This recipe is flawless!
I've made several times. Such an easy recipe. I use slivered blanched almonds as easier to find, then top with lightly salted Marcona almonds. Adds a saltiness with the sweet and so Spanish! You can skip the dash of salt to reduce sodium if you go with the salted Marconas. I get mine at Costco.
Very easy and very quick cookie. I love the consistency and the fact that they are gluten free!
Very Good. Very nice with a cup of espresso and so easy. I processed 2 cups of nuts till they were finely ground, like fine sugar consistency. I also added 1 tsp. of cinnamon in when I added the lemon, sugar, salt and egg. It took way more then ten pulses to get it to a ball. It really was not a ball but got wet and sticky so you could roll it into a balls for the cookies. I got exactly 24 cookies. I rolled balls and pressed them down before putting on the cookie sheet. I sprinkled another tsp of cinnamon over the cookies,added the almond and cooked till it they where just brown (almost under cooked). This way they were gooey inside - sort of like a macaroon. They are frozen and ready for Christmas Eve dinner.
Followed the recipe exactly. The flavor was wonderful. The mix of almond, lemon and cinnamon really works. The cookie was macaroon like...crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Will definitely make again. The best part is, as there is no flour in the recipe, they are gluten-free and my whole family can eat them! Be careful not to overcook as they will stick to the pan. The recipe says process the almonds until 'finely ground', not sure how fine that is... like flour or more like sand? I stopped at sand b/c I was afraid it would turn into almond butter if I continued. Was this the intended consistency? Also, the dough was very dense. Therefore, the dough balls do not spread out during cooking. I suggest pressing them down gently with a glass to make discs when you put the whole almond on top. Next time I'm going to experiment w/ replacing half of the sugar with Splenda to also make them lower carb. Anyone have a recipe that calls for 4 zested lemons??
Haven't made yet: What is the equivalent in almond flour vs. the 2 cups of whole blanched almonds? Couldn't find the blanched almonds so bought flour instead. Need help ASAP as I want to mail some for gifts. Thank you!
Delicious. I used a #40 portion scoop so mine came out a little bigger and I ended up with 17 instead of 24. Next time I will use a teaspoon.
