Almond Shortbread Cookies
This recipe was one of the things that got me a job as a pastry chef. I made them for the hiring committee, and these little cookies made quite an impression.
I’ve never come across a recipe quite like this one. It is similar to an Italian almond cookie, but it’s so much more.
They have a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread quality — slightly chewy in the center, crumbly and tender at the edges, and packed with almond flavor from both the almond paste and the almond extract.
My favorite thing about them is that you can pipe them into different shapes and make them look entirely different from each other. I love to make a big batch and dip some in white chocolate, some in dark chocolate, and finish the rest with chopped pistachios or a halved cherry. You get four cookies for the work of one.
These are simple enough for a beginning baker, but look very impressive. Once you try them, they will become a cookie staple you’ll turn to time and time again.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This recipe makes a lot of small cookies (6 dozen cookies)
- They are very versatile; you can decorate them in multiple ways to make them look like different cookies!
- They’re simple enough for a beginning baker, but they look impressive enough for a party tray.
- They freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, so you can make them well ahead of a holiday or a cookie exchange.
Equipment Notes
You will need a star tip to get the beautiful ridged shape of the cookies. I use a 1M piping tip. These are my favorite disposable piping bags.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond Paste: Make sure you are getting almond paste, and not just almond flour. You can find almond paste in cans or in small boxes. They should only contain blanched almonds, sugar, water, and usually some preservatives.
- Egg Whites: You can use egg whites from fresh eggs, but liquid pasteurized egg whites from a carton work just as well. The rule of thumb is 1 egg white is equal to 1 oz (or 28 grams) of liquid egg whites.
- Cake Flour: This recipe calls for cake flour AND all-purpose flour. It is important that you use both. If you don’t have cake flour, simply make your own by removing a Tablespoon from each cup of flour, and then adding 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch in its place.
- Butter: It needs to be room temperature! Cold butter will be too difficult to work into your cookie batter.
Chef Anne’s Pro Tip
Almond paste and marzipan sit side by side at the store, but they are not interchangeable. Almond paste is roughly two parts almonds to one part sugar. Marzipan flips that ratio, and it will make these far too sweet and too soft to hold a piped ridge.
If your almond paste has gone firm in the can, break it up and beat it with the sugar first. The sugar crystals do the work of smoothing it out for you.
The Food Science Behind These Cookies
The two flours are doing different jobs. Cake flour runs about 7 to 8 percent protein; all-purpose runs about 10 to 12.
Use only cake flour and the cookies come out so tender that the piped ridges slump in the oven. Use only all-purpose and they turn tough, with edges that lose their definition. The blend gives you just enough gluten to hold a sharp star tip while keeping the crumb short.
The egg whites matter for the same reason. There is no yolk in this dough, so there is no extra fat softening the structure — just protein setting around the ridges as they bake. It’s also why too much egg white makes them spread: you’ve thinned the dough without giving it anything more to hold onto.
How to Make the Almond Shortbread Cookies
Step 1: Beat sugar, almond paste, and 2 oz of egg whites together.
Step 2: Add your butter all at once, and then mix in your flour until it’s well incorporated. Add extracts and salt.
Chef Anne’s Pro Tip
There’s a reason the almond paste, sugar, and egg whites go in before the butter. Fat coats the paste and stops it breaking down, so if the butter goes in early you’ll be picking lumps of almond paste out of your dough forever. Get that first mixture completely smooth before anything else joins it.
Step 3: Place a small amount of cookie dough in a piping bag. If it is too hard to pipe, add the remaining egg white to the cookie dough.
Step 4: Pipe your cookies into your desired shape onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Be sure to pipe cookies 2 inches apart.
Chef Anne’s Pro Tip
If the dough is fighting you in the bag, loosen it with egg white — never milk, cream, or more butter. Egg white is mostly protein, so it softens the dough without adding fat, and fat is what makes these spread in the oven. Add it a teaspoon at a time.
One more thing worth doing: pipe a pea-sized dot of dough under each corner of your parchment to glue it to the pan. Nothing wastes a tray faster than the paper sliding while you pipe.
Step 5: Bake cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are barely browning on the edges.
Step 6: Decorate them! I like to drizzle melted white or dark chocolate, add halved cherries, chopped nuts, or sandwich two cookies with chocolate ganache.
Chef Anne’s Pro Tip
If you dip these in real chocolate straight from the microwave, it will dry dull and streaky and it won’t snap when you bite it. That’s untempered chocolate.
The quickest fix is seeding. Melt two-thirds of your chocolate, take it off the heat, then stir in the remaining third chopped small until the bowl is smooth. The unmelted chocolate brings the whole batch back into temper as it dissolves.
Almond Shortbread Cookie Shape Variations
These cookies can be finished in a myriad of ways. I like to pipe them into one of these four shapes: Wheels, Curved Shells, Shells, and Sticks.
The sky is the limit when it comes to how you would like to finish these, so don’t feel limited to what I like to do. Typically I like to finish these cookies like this:
- Wheels: I place a halved maraschino cherry on the Wheels and drizzle with white chocolate.
- Curved Shells: I like to dip the tips of the Curved Shells in dark chocolate and then in finely chopped nuts (I love to dip mine in bright green pistachios).
- Shells: The Shells get sandwiched with a ganache, and sometimes I dip the tip in chocolate and nuts as well.
- Sticks: The Sticks simply get a drizzle of dark chocolate on one end.
How to Store Almond Shortbread Cookies
Once baked, these will keep for 2-3 days on the counter. They also freeze beautifully and will be good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I would recommend freezing them undecorated, so your chocolate and other decor don’t discolor or change in flavor or texture. Pull them out 1-2 hours before you’re ready to serve.
You can even decorate them straight from the freezer, before they’ve had a chance to thaw. Then allow them to completely thaw before eating.
I’ve also been known to make the dough days ahead of time and refrigerate it until I’m ready to pipe and bake. Just be sure to allow ample time for the dough to come to room temperature, or it will be too stiff and cold to work with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Are My Cookies Spreading?
You may have added too much egg white. Be sure to measure by weight and not by volume. Butter that was too soft or partly melted will do the same thing.
How Do I Tell If My Cookies Are Done?
If the cookies are barely browning on the edges and lightly browned on the bottom, they are ready!
Pull them a touch before they look finished. A hot pan keeps cooking them after they leave the oven, so I slide the whole sheet of parchment off the pan and onto the counter to stop it.
Do I Have to Use Room Temperature Butter?
Yes! This cookie dough will not come together the way it should if you attempt to add cold butter.
Make sure that it is softened, either by letting your butter sit out for an hour or two beforehand or by softening it in the microwave. I like to soften my cold butter for 1-2 minutes at power 2.
Can I Use Marzipan Instead of Almond Paste?
No. Marzipan carries about twice the sugar of almond paste, which makes the dough too sweet and too soft to hold a piped ridge. Look for a product that lists blanched almonds first, not sugar.
Almond Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment
- 1 large star tip
- 1 piping bag
Ingredients
- 6 oz almond paste
- 7 1/2 oz granulated sugar
- 2-3 oz egg whites
- 15 oz butter softened
- 6 oz all-purpose flour
- 12 oz cake flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- In the bowl of your stand mixer place beat your 6 oz almond paste and 7 1/2 oz granulated sugar together. Add 2 oz of your 2-3 oz egg whites.
- Add 15 oz butter in all at once and mix together until well blended.
- Sift 6 oz all-purpose flour and 12 oz cake flour. Then add to your butter mixture along with the 1/2 tsp salt
- Add extracts
- Try to pipe a little bit of your cookie dough. It can be quite thick and difficult to pipe. If it is too thick add the remaining 1 oz of egg whites at this time.
- Fill your piping bag with 1/2-1 cup of cookie dough at a time so you can easily squeeze it out. Pipe your cookies into whatever shapes you desire onto a lined cookies sheet.
- Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes until they are barely browning around the edges.
- Allow cookies to cool and then you can decorate.