Almond Lace Food

ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F; adjust oven rack to the upper third of the oven. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
• Bring the butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat so the butter slows to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the solids on the bottom of the pan turn light brown. Remove from heat.
• Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, milk and salt to the butter and stir to blend well. Stir in the oats, flour and vanilla, then fold in the almonds.
• Drop teaspoons of the batter onto the baking sheets, spaced about 3 inches apart. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown all over and slightly darker at the edges. Transfer the baking sheets to a cooling rack and let sit until the cookies firm up, about 5 minutes. Using a spatula, gently transfer the cookies to wire racks until cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 2 months.

ORANGE FRENCH LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Place the almonds on a sheet pan and toast them for 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned, tossing once to toast evenly. Place 1 cup of the toasted almonds in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and chop them very coarsely. (Reserve the rest for later.) Combine the chopped almonds with the flour and set aside.
• Meanwhile, place the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, orange juice concentrate, orange zest, and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the reserved toasted almonds.
• With 2 teaspoons (tableware rather than measuring spoons), drop rounded spoonfuls of batter (about 1 1/2 inches wide) onto the prepared sheet pans, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. (I put 8 on each pan.) Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, turning the pans in the oven to brown evenly. Allow to cool and transfer to a wire rack. Repeat for the remaining batter. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax or parchment paper.

ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F and generously grease 2 large baking sheets.
• Cook brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a 1-quart saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat, then stir in flour and almonds.
• Spoon scant tablespoons of batter 6 inches apart on baking sheets (4 cookies per sheet) and bake 1 sheet at a time in middle of oven until golden brown and bubbling, 6 to 8 minutes. (Cookies will spread to 5 to 6 inches.) Cool cookies on sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Quickly but carefully remove cookies from sheet with a metal spatula and transfer to a rack to cool completely. (If they become too brittle to transfer, return baking sheet to oven for about 1 minute to allow cookies to soften.)

CHOCOLATE AND AMARETTO MOUSSE IN ALMOND LACE BOWLS

Steps:

• For the chocolate and amaretto mousse: Heat the cream in a small pot over medium heat. Once it starts to steam, remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until melted. Let cool. Carefully add the cooled chocolate cream, 2 tablespoons at a time, into a bowl with the egg yolks, mixing continuously. Stir in the amaretto. Beat the egg whites and sugar in a bowl to form a meringue, and then fold into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. For the almond lace bowls: Combine the butter, corn syrup and sugar in a pot over medium heat until simmering. Whisk together the flour and almonds, and then stir into the butter mixture, 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate covered, 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Scoop tablespoons of batter and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (only 4 balls per row), and bake until golden, 10 minutes. Let cool until they can be touched, but are still warm enough to be pliable. Place on top of a small inverted bowl to shape, and then let cool until hardened completely, 2 minutes.
• Transfer the chocolate mousse to a piping bag and pipe into the almond lace bowls. Garnish with toasted almonds.

HONEY-ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine the butter, honey, and brown sugar in a small saucepan, over medium heat, and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is bubbly and smooth, about 5 minutes. Stir in the almonds, salt, and vanilla and cook 1 minute more.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour until smooth. Let cool slightly. Refrigerate until the batter sets up, at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F and arrange racks in upper and lower third.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 3 to 4 inches space between each. Put the sheets on the racks and bake until bubbly, brown on edges, and golden throughout, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet. Repeat until all of the batter is used.
• When cookies are cool, melt the chocolate over medium-low heat, in a small saucepan, until smooth. Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate, scrape off excess, and set on a cooling rack to dry. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to set up.

ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, mix the corn syrup butter and sugar. Stir until the butter has melted. Remove from heat, and stir in the rest of the ingredients.
• Drop level half-teaspoons of the batter 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake about 5 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Watch carefully, opening the oven door if necessary, to be sure the cookies don't burn.
• Remove the baking sheets from the oven, and immediately transfer the parchment paper to a cool, flat surface. Allow to rest for a few minutes, and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

LACE COOKIES (FLORENTINE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
• Place almonds into the bowl of a food processor; alternate pulsing and running at full speed every few seconds until finely chopped and crumblike. Be careful not to go too far; you don't want them too fine and pasty.
• Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir a few times and cook until melted and dissolved. Bring to a boil, then carefully remove from the heat.
• Add vanilla extract, salt, and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add chopped almonds and mix with a spatula until everything is combined.
• Drop eight uniformly sized, rounded spoonfuls of batter (each about 2 teaspoons, or 15 grams) onto the prepared sheet. Fine-tune the cookie shapes and make sure they are evenly spaced.
• Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until golden brown and a bit darker around the outsides, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
• Remove from the oven and slide the silicone liner off the baking sheet and directly onto the countertop. Allow to sit until cool and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes, then gently peel cookies off the liner. Repeat to bake remaining batches.
• Spread melted chocolate over the flat side of one cookie. Place a second cookie, flat-side down, on top to make a sandwich and press very gently to seal. Repeat to form remaining cookies. Let sit until chocolate has firmed up, about 30 minutes.

ORANGE-ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Stir 3/4 cup butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat until melted.
• Remove from heat.
• Stir in nuts, sugar, flour, orange peel and salt; then stir in egg.
• Drop some batter by generous tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart (cookies will spread).
• Bake cookies until lacy and golden brown, about 15 minutes.
• Gently slide parchment paper with cookies onto rack; cool completely.
• Transfer cookies to paper towels.
• Repeat with remaining batter, lining cooled baking sheet with clean parchment for each batch.
• (Can be made ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.).

ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix together the sugar, flour and almonds.
• Stir in the egg white, butter and vanilla until blended.
• Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 3" apart on parchment lined baking sheets.
• Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
• Let cool on the baking sheets and then remove from paper.
• Store in an airtight container.

LACEY ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325, line cookie sheet with parchment paper or non stick foil.
• Mix oats, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, 1/2 of egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Add almonds.
• Drop by teaspoons 3 inches apart (they spread).
• Bake for 10-12 mins, edges should be slightly browned.
• Let cool then peel from paper/foil.

ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, cream, and orange liqueur. When butter has melted, stir in remaining ingredients with a wooden spoon. Cook until gently bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
• Place 5 half teaspoons of batter 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet (this is as many as you can mold while hot). Bake until lightly browned and crisp, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Remove from oven, and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes. Working quickly, lay each cookie over a cone-shaped object (we used a water-cooler cup), pressing edges together. Alternatively, roll cookies around the handle of a wooden spoon, pressing the edges together to form a cylinder. Continue baking and forming cookies until batter is used up. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool.