Almond Shortbread Cookies

These incredible gluten- and egg- free cookies are super addictive- especial for first-timers! They are a great hit to bring to a potluck, or to add to your holiday cookie collection. What makes them such a neat option for a sweet treat is that they are made with unrefined sweeteners, and are full of protein from the nut meal. The arrowroot powder is easy to digest, and was once considered soothing to the gut. This recipe comes from the enlightening cookbook Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.

Yeilds: 18-2” cookies

Cook time: 30- 50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup almond meal (or 1.5 cups whole blanched almonds or other nut)

1 cup arrowroot powder (sometimes found in the bulk sections of health food stores, or online)

½ cup rapadura sugar (dehydrated cane juice)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

½ cup butter or coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup whole blanched marcona almonds, almond slivers, or almond slices. Or nut piece of your choice if using other nuts.

Equipment: food processor

Instructions:

-          Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Process the nuts with the sugar until everything is blended into a powder. Add the arrowroot and salt, and process until well mixed.

-          Add the extracts, melted butter or oil, and process until the mixture is entirely moistened (might have to scrape down the sides).

-          Using rounded tablespoon – sized portions of cookie dough, roll them into balls between your hands, and place them onto two parchment lined baking sheets, flattening them gently and then pressing a nut piece on top. They will not spread very much, so you can arrange them 15 to a sheet (3 rows of 5).  Bake for 20 minutes, until starting to tan at the edges. Remove from the pan on the parchment, and let cool on a cooling rack.

-          If you choose to make these as jam thumb-print cookies, omit flattening them on the baking sheet, and omit the nut pressed on top. After baking them in a rounded ball shape for 5 minutes, create an indentation with your thumb into each cookie, and fill with a ½ tsp of your favorite compote or fruit sauce (we really like cooked plum puree, or blackberry puree in these cookies).

-          Keep cookies in the refrigerator, up to 5 days. Freeze extras and leftovers in a ziplock bag, and consume within 2 months (probably will taste freezer-burned much longer than that).

This recipe can be pressed into the bottom of a glass baking dish and baked to make an excellent crust for lemon bars or raspberry oat bars. Try serving them as a cookie with a dollop of whipped crème fraiche and some rhubarb curd. As noted earlier, you could press your thumb in them after 5 minutes of baking, and fill with your favorite fruit compote, and continue to bake to make jam cookies.  You could even try a mix of almond and hazelnut meal, and add 1/3 cup cocoa powder to make nutella shortbread cookies! This is a very versatile recipe, that you will come back to again and again.