Moroccan Spice Cookies

Submitted by melbalou

"This is adapted from an old recipe of my mother's, which I believe was from a church cookbook. I was looking for a way to use the wonderful ras-el-hanout spice blend I had on hand and came up with this. I take them to my office holiday cookie swap every year and they're always a hit. Ras-el-hanout can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stories, but I recommend the blend sold by The Spice House (www.thespicehouse.com)."

 

• Ready In: 32mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 32 cookies

ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Ras El Hanout Spice Blend
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons almond extract (vanilla also works)
• 32 whole almonds

directions

1. Sift flour, salt, ras-el-hanout and cinnamon into a small bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter and sugar.
3. Add almond (or vanilla) extract and whisk until fluffy.
4. Stir in flour mixture and mold dough into a ball.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F
7. Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls and roll lightly in sugar if desired.
8. Place cookies on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
9. Flatten cookies with bottom of glass or back of fork and press a whole almond into center of each cookie.
10. Bake 12 minutes until edges are lightly golden.