These Finnish Almond Cookies are a lot like a classic sugar cookie, but include a topping of brushed egg, almonds, and decorator sugar to make them a little more fancy.
You can shape these using a regular old knife or cookie cutters, but I used this recipe as an opportunity to use a rolling pastry cutter set I’ve had for years and never tried before. I loaded the rolling cutter, rolled it, and lo and behold, it worked great!
These cookies are soft and chewy. The butter and vanilla really come through. The almond pieces on top add a fantastic crunch in contrast. I imagine these would be great with chopped walnuts or pecans, too–I need to try that sometime!
Bready or Not Original: Finnish Almond Cookies
These cookies are fragrant of butter and vanilla, soft and chewy with a lovely crunch from almonds. Great for the holidays or year round!
Servings: 24 cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- rolling pastry cutter or cookie cutter
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for surface
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or sliced almonds
- colored decorator sugar optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they become light and fluffy. Beat in flour and vanilla, mixing well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. If the dough chills overnight, let it sit at room temperature for a bit before rolling out, as it can get quite firm.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Use a rolling pastry cutter or cookie cutters, shape cookies and move to parchment, granting each slight space to expand. Reform dough leftovers to shape more cookies.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg to break it up. Use a pastry brush to wash the top of each cookie with egg. Sprinkle almonds pieces atop each, followed by a dusting of decorator sugar, if using.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges turn a touch brown. Let sit on sheet a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
