Mom's Best Almond Cookies

Submitted by Chilicat

"These are the BEST melt-in-your-mouth almond cookies around! They're based on the traditional Chinese recipe but don't have lye in them (yuck)."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Yields: 6 dozen

ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups shortening
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 5 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt
• red food coloring (optional)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream sugar and shortening until fluffy. Beat eggs with almond extract, then add to sugar mixture. Mix well.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to sugar mixture, mixing well after each addition.
5. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly, as these don't spread very much.
6. If you want them to look like traditional Chinese almond cookies, mix a few drops of red food coloring with a few drops of water. Using the blunt end of a chopstick, dip into the red color, then stamp a dot into the center of each cookie. Alternately, you can place a bleached almond in the center of each cookie.
7. Bake 20 minutes or until just barely brown on the edges. Transfer to rack to cool.