A buttery toasted almond cookie dipped in a semi-sweet chocolate ganache.

For my Christmas cookies this year, I’m taking a tour down memory lane, and revisiting some childhood favorites that I had set aside in recent years. Why I set these aside is beyond me, because these are some wonderful cookie recipes. I have vague memories of temperamental dough and lots of work, but that must just be because in my kiddie mind, hand rolling logs of dough is a lot less fun then cutting out cute reindeer cookies and I getting the right dipping technique on the chocolate was just plain frustrating (I mean, what’s wrong with a full dunk? The more chocolate the better, right?). Adult me finds these recipes to be a breeze – the ingredients are simple, the recipes are solid, and there’s something reassuringly comfortable in the uniformity of the decorations. The one caveat with these cookies is that they are all hand rolled so that can be slightly time consuming, but sometimes it’s nice to zone out, listen to some Christmas carols, and sink your hands into a vat of dough.

Recipe makes ~30 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Almonds
• 1 cup Butter (room temp)
• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 tbsp Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 cups Flour

For Chocolate Ganache

• 6 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• 2 tbsp Butter

Directions:

1. Lightly toast the almonds in a hot pan.
2. Set the almonds aside to cool slightly.
3. Grind up the almonds – a few pluses in the food processor does the trick.
4. Cream together the butter and the sugar.
5. Beat in the salt, vanilla extract, and milk.
6. Beat in the flour and the almonds.
7. Tightly wrap up the dough and store it in the refrigerator for a few hours.
8. Preheat the oven to 325 F (~163 C).
9. To shape the dough, roll a section of it out into a 1/2 inch thick log and cut it at 2 inch intervals.
10. Set the shaped fingers onto a parchment lined or greased cookie sheet. These cookies won’t grow much so it’s safe to pack them in.
11. Bake for ~15 minutes.
12. Allow the cookies to cool.
13. Melt the butter and chocolate together for the ganache. You can do this in a double boiler or very carefully in the microwave.
14. Grab the base of the cookie and dip it into the chocolate at an angle so that it covers two-thirds of the way up the top of the cookie, mimicking a long finger nail. There shouldn’t be any chocolate on the bottom of the cookie, just a small amount at the tip.
15. Set the cookie on a piece of wax or parchment paper to dry.