Christmas in not Christmas without Christmas almond ball cookies. Throughout my entire childhood, my mom always made these cookies and they were always my absolute favorite cookie that she made. I suppose you could really make these at any time of the year, but saving them for one season makes the holidays that much more special. Biting into them brings back so many fond memories; memories of my childhood, of baking with Mom in the kitchen; memories of taking treats to all the neighbors. Like I said, Christmas is not Christmas if there are no almond ball cookies!!
If you are looking for a quick cookie to whip up to take to a holiday party or dinner, these are them! They take very little time to make. With only 6 ingredients, they can’t be that complex, right? And most ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard! It’s amazing how 6 simple ingredients can make something so delicious.
Enough chit chat; let’s get started! You will need: flour, powdered sugar, butter, almonds, salt, and vanilla. That’s it!
Begin by prepping your ingredients. You will need to set aside about half cup of powdered sugar for later use. You will also need to sift your flour. You read that right, sift the flour, not the powdered sugar. The sugar doesn’t need to be sifted for this recipe. Set the flour aside for now.
Crush your almonds. I do this by putting almonds in a Ziploc baggie and smashing them with a cleaver. You want them to be crushed pretty fine, but it’s okay if there are still some chunks of almonds. When you are done crushing the almonds, it should measure 1/2 cup.
Beat together your butter and 1 cup powdered sugar either in a bowl or in a stand alone mixer.
Add vanilla.
Gradually add in the flour and mix until well incorporated. And then add salt.
Add in your crushed almonds.
Roll your dough into balls, about 2″. Place them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. You don’t need to worry about spacing them far about because they are going to hold their ball shape when baked; they won’t spread. You can fit a lot onto one sheet.
Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes. The cookies will still look light in color, but the bottoms will start to brown and that’s when you’ll know they’re done. When you take them out of the oven, let them cool for just a couple of minutes. Then, while the cookies are still hot (but cool enough to touch) carefully remove them from the cookie sheet and put them in the bowl of powdered sugar that you set aside earlier. Cover them with the sugar and then use a fork to lift the cookie out of the powdered sugar, tapping lightly on the side of the bowl to remove excess sugar.
Place the cookie onto a cooling rack to finish cooling down.
The warmth of the cookie mixed with the powdered sugar creates a yummy glaze on the cookie. It tastes heavenly! You can eat them warm or you can let them cool before eating. They taste amazing either way!
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10-12 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies
|
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar,
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cup flour sifted
- 1/2 cup almonds, crushed
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, (for rolling cookies in after baked)
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Measure half a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and set aside.
- Sift flour in a separate bowl and set aside.
- With a hand mixer or with your kitchen aid, beat the butter and 1 cup powdered sugar.
- Add vanilla.
- Gradually add in your sifted flour. Mix well.
- Add salt and then mix in almonds.
- Roll into balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the bottoms are browning.
- When removed from the oven, let the cookies cool for a couple minutes. Then, while they are still warm, carefully remove them from the cookie sheet and roll them in the bowl of powdered sugar.
- Once they have been submerged in sugar, place on a cooling rack to let them finish cooling.
- Eat warm, or let them cool. Either way, they taste amazing!
*I have used all-purpose, gluten-free flour in place of regular flour and had great results!
Can these be frozen?
That’s a good question…I’ve actually never tried freezing them (they never last that long, lol). I don’t see why not! Let me know if you try it out.