This was one tough letter. There are only a few dishes that
begin with the letter X and even fewer that are baked and native to a
particular country. I had only two choices - Xiaodianxin which means Cookie in
Chinese or any X-mas Cake. I chose to do the cookie and made Chinese
Almond Cookies.
Chinese Almond cookies are eaten during the Lunar New Year. They
are shaped liked coins and symbolize good luck, hence people make or buy these
coin-shaped cookies. Made with almond meal/flour these are crumbly rich
cookies.
I made my own Almond flour with blanched almonds. I weighed the
quantity of blanched almonds needed and then pulsed it with the quantity of
sugar in the recipe. If you pulse almonds without the sugar it will turn to
butter! So always pulse it with sugar/powdered sugar. You can use Almond meal
too which is made with raw almonds and the meal is coarse with specks of brown
in it.
The original recipe has egg yolk in it, I decided to leave it
out and make these eggless instead. I stuck to the recipe with no other changes and
these turned out absolutely melt-in-the-mouth.
You will need:
Makes: 24-26 cookies (half recipe as stated below)
Recipe adapted from here
60 gms blanched almonds (to make the almond flour)
90 gms All-purpose flour
60 gms Granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Baking soda
75 ml Vegetable oil
Unsalted almonds (to top the cookies)
Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment
paper.
Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Mix on low. Add the vegetable oil and continue to beat on low until the mixture
forms a dough. If the mixture looks crumbly, add a teaspoon of oil at a time
until it comes together.
Pinch small pieces of dough and roll into a bowl. Press an
almond in the center of the ball, place this on the lined baking sheet.
Continue with remaining dough. Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to a rack carefully and cool completely. Store in
air-tight container for up to a week.
BAKES FROM AROUND THE WORLD:
A for ANZAC BISCUITS - AUSTRALIA
B for BASBOUSA - EGYPT
C for CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS - FRANCE
D for DAMPER BREAD - AUSTRALIA
E for EMPANADAS - MEXICO
F for FLAN MEXICANO - MEXICO
G for GRISSINI BREADSTICKS - ITALY
J for JOULUTORTTU - FINLAND
K for KORVAPUUSTI - FINLAND
L for LEMON SPRITZ SANDWICH COOKIES - GERMANY
M for MACARONS - FRANCE
N for NANKHATAI - INDIA
O for ORANGE OGURA CAKE - MALAYSIA
P for PINCA - CROATIA
Q for QUICK BREAD - STRAWBERRY PECAN BREAD - USA
N for NANKHATAI - INDIA
O for ORANGE OGURA CAKE - MALAYSIA
P for PINCA - CROATIA
Q for QUICK BREAD - STRAWBERRY PECAN BREAD - USA
R for RIGÓ JANCSI - HUNGARY
S for SCONES - UK
T for TOTTENHAM CAKE - ENGLAND
U for UGNSPANNKAKA - SWEDEN
S for SCONES - UK
T for TOTTENHAM CAKE - ENGLAND
U for UGNSPANNKAKA - SWEDEN
V for VIENNESE FINGERS - AUSTRIA
The cookies look beautiful and the almond flavour is a delight. Awesome bake for X
ReplyDeleteCookies look melt in the mouth kinds and since made with almond meal must be so delicious , rich and nutty.
ReplyDeleteLooks like this Chinese almond cookies is the star dish of the day. Thats an awesome find for X. Those cookies looks simply awesome.
ReplyDeleteSame pinch and kudos for making your own almond meal. Errr I always go for store bough one. These cookies looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThese cookies seem to be the star for the letter X ! Lovely choice.
ReplyDeleteNamratha,these almond cookies have turned out so wonderful..looks so buttery and inviting..but the great thing about this recipe is that when we have used oil, the baked dish looks buttery right..:)..great pick!
ReplyDeleteThose cookies look like they will melt in the mouth. very inviting.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most delicious cookies I have ever tasted. Nicely baked.
ReplyDeletecookies look soft and crumbly.
ReplyDeleteThey look like my kind of cookies.. Perfect pic for the letter and love those Almond toppings..
ReplyDelete