Almond moon cookies
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:31 am
For a while I was suffering from wheat allergies, so I collected a lot of recipes that were wheat free. This is one of my favorites. I used it for a ritual dedicated to Artemis.
Note: this recipe requires a food mill or processor. I suppose you could make it with a (BIG) mortar and pestle, but that would be a LOT of work.
Almond Moon Cookies
2 packages (about 32 oz) of raw, unsalted almonds; slivered
1/2 - 1 cup of sugar (or splenda)
1 egg (or egg substitute) You may wish to use pasturized eggs for this.
1/4 cup of milk or soy milk
1 tbs of oil (almond works, but I used olive or canola)
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp clove
1/2 cup of oat or soy flour
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
(c.a.) 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)
zest from one lemon, 2 tsp in reserve (optional)
1 jar of Lemon Curd (optional)
heat your oven to 350 degrees
Toast the almonds in an oven on it's lowest setting for about five minutes or until you smell a wonderful toasting smell. Watch that oven, as they can burn easily. If you choose to use oat flour for this recipe, you should
toast the rolled oats as well. Don't use instant! They are thinner and burn too easily. Make sure your oats and nuts are on different pans so you can remove the oats before the nuts if required. You can also toast these in a toaster oven, which is easier to watch and time.
Put the nuts into a bag, and bang them with a meat hammer or other available hammer or shoe. This breaks them up a bit so that they don't gum up your food processor quite so badly.
If you use the oat flour, grind up your oats in the food processor. It takes one cup of oats to make 1/2 cup of oat flour. Take out the flour before you grind the nuts, but you don't have to clean it first... it may even help keep the nut mixture from sticking too badly! Also, you should make more flour than you need, in case you need more flour for your dough, and for dusting purposes.
Grind your nuts in a food processor. Watch them carefully. You don't want almond butter, but you don't want the mixture to be too crumbly, either. You want it to have cohesion, but not too wet. If it goes too far, the oils will separate and you will have a big mess!
Beat the egg with the oil, milk, spices and extracts and two tsp of zest, and mix the sugar with the egg/oil/milk mixture. Add slowly to the mortar. Then start adding the flour in small quantities until you get a smooth dough. Remember it's always going to have some texture because of the almonds.
Once you have the dough you can form it into various shapes. I like making them into half moons, with a dented in surface. Only use the dented in surface if you plan on using the lemon curd. I tend to form them something like 1/4 inch or even 3/8ths of an inch thick. You can also make them thicker, but and they will be a bit soft on the inside.
Bake for about 5-18 minutes. It really depends on how thick they are and how crispy you want them... also the smell. If you get that really nice almondy smell that permeates the kitchen, that's the ticket!
Check to see that a toothpick comes out clean. I'm sorry I can't give a better sense of time for done-ness, it's thing you need to watch.
Mix the zest with the lemon curd, and spread the curd into the trenches of the cookies. Dust with powdered sugar. I find that these don't last very long. People eat them before you find out how long they keep!
Note: this recipe requires a food mill or processor. I suppose you could make it with a (BIG) mortar and pestle, but that would be a LOT of work.
Almond Moon Cookies
2 packages (about 32 oz) of raw, unsalted almonds; slivered
1/2 - 1 cup of sugar (or splenda)
1 egg (or egg substitute) You may wish to use pasturized eggs for this.
1/4 cup of milk or soy milk
1 tbs of oil (almond works, but I used olive or canola)
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp clove
1/2 cup of oat or soy flour
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
(c.a.) 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)
zest from one lemon, 2 tsp in reserve (optional)
1 jar of Lemon Curd (optional)
heat your oven to 350 degrees
Toast the almonds in an oven on it's lowest setting for about five minutes or until you smell a wonderful toasting smell. Watch that oven, as they can burn easily. If you choose to use oat flour for this recipe, you should
toast the rolled oats as well. Don't use instant! They are thinner and burn too easily. Make sure your oats and nuts are on different pans so you can remove the oats before the nuts if required. You can also toast these in a toaster oven, which is easier to watch and time.
Put the nuts into a bag, and bang them with a meat hammer or other available hammer or shoe. This breaks them up a bit so that they don't gum up your food processor quite so badly.
If you use the oat flour, grind up your oats in the food processor. It takes one cup of oats to make 1/2 cup of oat flour. Take out the flour before you grind the nuts, but you don't have to clean it first... it may even help keep the nut mixture from sticking too badly! Also, you should make more flour than you need, in case you need more flour for your dough, and for dusting purposes.
Grind your nuts in a food processor. Watch them carefully. You don't want almond butter, but you don't want the mixture to be too crumbly, either. You want it to have cohesion, but not too wet. If it goes too far, the oils will separate and you will have a big mess!
Beat the egg with the oil, milk, spices and extracts and two tsp of zest, and mix the sugar with the egg/oil/milk mixture. Add slowly to the mortar. Then start adding the flour in small quantities until you get a smooth dough. Remember it's always going to have some texture because of the almonds.
Once you have the dough you can form it into various shapes. I like making them into half moons, with a dented in surface. Only use the dented in surface if you plan on using the lemon curd. I tend to form them something like 1/4 inch or even 3/8ths of an inch thick. You can also make them thicker, but and they will be a bit soft on the inside.
Bake for about 5-18 minutes. It really depends on how thick they are and how crispy you want them... also the smell. If you get that really nice almondy smell that permeates the kitchen, that's the ticket!
Check to see that a toothpick comes out clean. I'm sorry I can't give a better sense of time for done-ness, it's thing you need to watch.
Mix the zest with the lemon curd, and spread the curd into the trenches of the cookies. Dust with powdered sugar. I find that these don't last very long. People eat them before you find out how long they keep!