Cookie Monster
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[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]

A take on Mexican or Russian wedding cakes, these crumbly cookies are made with ground almonds and rolled in confectioners sugar and cinnamon.

About the author: Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. She likes to peruse her large collection of cookbooks while eating jam from the jar. You can follow her on Twitter @carrievasios

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

About This Recipe

Yield: Makes 1 dozen cookies
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Special equipment: food processor, stand mixer, parchment paper, baking sheets

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup toasted almonds
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Procedures

  1. Place toasted almonds in bowl of food processor and pulse until coarsely ground, about 10 pulses. Set aside.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar until blended. Beat in vanilla. Add flour and salt and beat until just combined, then beat in ground almonds. Cover dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

  3. Adjust oven rack to upper and lower middle positions and preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup confectioners sugar and cinnamon. Take dough from fridge and roll into walnut-sized balls, then place on baking sheet. Bake cookies until golden on top, 15-18 minutes. When cool enough to touch, roll balls in confectioners sugar mix, then place on cooling racks. When cooled completely, roll again in sugar to coat.