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Soft Almond Sugar Cookies are piped cookies, baked and topped with a confectioner’s sugar glaze and a sprinkle of almonds.
I have my sights set on some holiday baking in the coming weeks, and these Soft Almond Sugar Cookies are definitely on the to-do list.
Not only are these Soft Almond Sugar Cookies delicious – they are so pretty too!
How do you make them?
You’ll prepare a buttery sugar cookie batter that mixes up soft and light thanks to the addition of egg whites – that get folded into the batter at the end.
The sweet cookie batter is flavored with both almond and vanilla extracts, plus a splash of fresh orange juice, which gives these Soft Almond Sugar Cookies a uniquely delicious flavor.
The cookie batter is placed into a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip like this one (affiliate link), then it’s piped onto the cookie sheet in long strips for baking. The cookies flatten and spread a bit as they bake so be sure to leave some space in between each cookie.
After the cookies are baked and fully cooled, mix up a simple glaze of confectioner’s sugar and cream which is also flavored with a touch of almond extract. Spread the glaze over the top of each cookie, then sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the glaze. Allow the cookies to set up for about ten minutes. As the glaze dries, the almonds will stay intact on the top of the cookie.
I think these Soft Almond Sugar Cookies are especially good with a cup of Espresso. Enjoy!
You might like these other cookie recipes:
- Italian Almond-Orange Cookies
- Italian Anisette Cookies
- 4-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Almond Malted Brittle Bars
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Soft Almond Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons orange juice
Topping
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
4 tablespoons cream or milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line three sheet trays or cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter for one minute.
Add sugar and beat until pale, two more minutes.
Separate egg yolks from whites into two small bowls and set aside.
Add both extracts, beat and scrape the bowl and beat again.
With the mixer running on low, add one egg yolk at a time and incorporate before adding the next. Scrape and beat again to combine.
In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.
Mix the milk and orange juice together.
With mixer on low, alternate adding flour mixture and milk mixture and beat just to combine. Scrape and mix again. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks with a hand mixer or a whisk.
Place 1/3 of the egg whites in the bowl with the cookie mix and using a knife, cut the whites in. Add the second third and cut in again. Then add the rest and using a stiff rubber spatula, gently fold into the batter.
Place half the batter in a piping bag fitted with a large tip (affiliate link) and pipe out four-inch long cookies (refill bag as needed). We placed 12 each on two pans and six on a third for a total of 30 cookies, each four inches long.
Bake one pan at a time in the upper most rack of your oven for ten minutes. Remove and bake the next pan for ten minutes then finally the last pan for ten minutes.
As each pan comes out, remove the cookies to a rack to cool.
In a small bowl, mix the confectioner’s sugar, milk or cream and the almond extract to a smooth consistency.
Once the cookies are cool, line them up on a parchment lined sheet tray or cookie sheet and with a spoon, smear on the icing over each one. Does not have to be neat or perfect or cover the whole top. Just need enough for the almond slices to stick.
Immediately sprinkle on the sliced almonds.
Let sit ten minutes to set up and harden a bit then place on a serving platter to serve.
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Delicious!
Could almond flour be substituted for the flour in your recipe? Thanks.
★★★★★
Hi Joy – We’ve only made the recipe as written. You might need to make some other adjustments if you swap in almond flour as it has more moisture than all-purpose flour.
The dough was dry crumbs before adding egg whites. I added almost double the milk and extra almond extract and it made a very thick dough. Still couldn’t pipe them. I did them as drop cookies and dipped half in chocolate with orange oil. Not bad.
Thanks Brenda
do I have to use orange juice or can I exclude this or even just replace it with something else? I want the full almond flavor and I feel like the orange juice will change the almond taste.
You can swap in another liquid (water) if you’d like.
Can I just add the same amount of milk instead?
Or if I replaced this with coffee would it change the cookie entirely? I want a full full almond taste so can I just replace with more almond
Hi Jenna – Milk has fat in it, while orange juice does not, so I personally wouldn’t add milk as they have different properties. Coffee might work, but I think you’ll introduce a coffee flavor that will mask the almond taste that you said you wanted to showcase. Adding almond extract will make the flavor too intense, in my opinion.
Ok so if I want to keep the almond taste I can just exclude the orange juice and use water
Yes!
Can you refrigerate this dough
Yes Barbara – that should be fine but before baking, you’ll want to bring the dough back to room temperature.
I am going to make them just as you say to do but I will toast my almonds in the oven before I put them on the cookie.bonnje
Thanks for the suggestion Bonnie!
These look divine. Have not made yet was noticed there was no almond flour used in this recipe, just almond extract and sliced almonds. Can I use almond flour. Thank you.
Hi Peg – You’d have to make other adjustments because almond flour has more moisture than all-purpose flour. Without testing an entirely new recipe, I’m afraid I can’t give you any specific guidance – I’d just be guessing.
Can you replace the orange juice with something else?
You could swap in lemon juice to change up the flavor a bit.