Chinese Almond Cookies 2023 (Buttery)

Close-up of a hand picking up a Chinese almond cookie.

5 from 6 votes

Chinese Almond Cookies 2023 (Buttery)

These Chinese Almond Cookies are the Asian-American version: they have a sweet, buttery and crisp texture, making them utterly delicious!

Prep Time50

Cook Time20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, Cantonese, Chinese, Fusion

Servings: cookies

Calories: 54kcal

Author: Zen

Equipment

1 Stand mixer
1 1-inch press and release cookie scoop

Ingredients

½ Cup unsalted butter at room temperature. should be softened but not oily.
¾ Cup caster white sugar
4 egg yolks + 2 whole eggs for glazing My yolks were 69 grams/ 2.43 oz.
¾ teaspoon salt Omit or reduce to ¼ teaspoon if using salted butter
2 Cups almond flour Do NOT use almond meal!!
1½ Cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder NOT baking soda.
72 almonds optional, for garnishing. You can also use almond slices instead.

Instructions

Day 1: Making the dough

Allow the butter to soften (but not too much) then cream it with the sugar till light and fluffy, about doubled in volume and a pale yellow. (You may need to scrape the bottom and side of the large mixing bowl in the middle of the process.)
Note: If the bottom of the mixing bowl feels sandy when you're scraping it with a spatula, that means not all the sugar has been mixed into the butter. White dough, on the other hand, means you've over creamed.
Gently fold in the yolks with a spatula. The dough will become a nice bright yellow.
Next comes the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the salt, making sure it's well distributed.
Next whisk the almond flour and regular flour together in a large bowl. Fold the flour mixture and baking powder into the dough.
Note: Do not over mix or your dough will become tough.

Day 1: Resting the cookies overnight

Transfer the dough to an airtight container or Ziplock bag then chill (or freeze.) It needs to rest overnight.
Note: If you rest for only an hour, the almond biscuit will be chewy, not crunchy. So far, I've only tested overnight and 1 hour resting times. I will keep testing the recipe to see what is the minimum amount of time we can rest the dough for to get the crisp and update you!

Day 2 or beyond: Baking the cookies

You can freeze the dough and bake it whenever you want. Alternatively you can do this the next day.
Preheat the oven to 350F/ 177C/ 157C fan.
Use a cookie scoop and scoop out 1-inch balls of dough. Next, you need to roll each dough between your palms to make the dough more compact and smoother.
Note: If not, the cookie will not be perfectly round after baking!
Place each round ball on a parchment paper with at least 2 inches between them, as they will spread. (See post for the minimum distance required.) You can decorate the top of each cookie with an almond (optional) then glaze with the yolk wash using a pastry brush.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or till the edges are golden brown.

Notes

For traditional Chinese almond cookies

Mix almond flour or almond meal with oil, sugar and flour then roll and bake. Use almond flour for a finer texture and almond meal for a more textured cookie with more nutrition. (But honestly, everyone who's tried this "American" almond cookie likes it the best!)

Nutrition