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.
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 milk 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
Soft Almond Sugar Cookies
Soft Almond Sugar Cookies are piped cookies, baked and topped with a confectioner’s sugar glaze and a sprinkle of almonds.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 30 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 whole eggs
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, measured properly by sifting into the measuring cups
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons orange juice
Topping
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
3 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and place an oven rack in the upper third of the oven.
- Line two 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.
- Add both extracts, beat and scrape the bowl and beat again.
- With the mixer running on low, add one egg 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.
- Place half the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large tip (affiliate link) and pipe out four-inch long cookies (refill bag as needed). We placed 15 each on two pans for a total of 30 cookies, each four inches long.
- Bake one pan at a time in the upper third of your oven for ten minutes. Remove and bake the next pan for ten minutes. The cookies will be light in color.
- As each pan comes out, remove the cookies to a rack to cool by sliding the parchment onto the cooling rack. Wait five minutes then remove the cookies from the parchment to cool further directly on the rack.
- In a small bowl, mix the confectioner’s sugar, milk and the almond extract to a smooth consistency.
- Once the cookies are cool, line them up on a parchment lined cookie sheet and with a spoon or small whisk, drizzle on the icing over each one. The icing 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.
Delicious
Thank you!
Is the dough supposed to be tough? It is hard to squeeze out. Maybe I made a mistake
Hi Sharon – You should be able to squeeze it through. Having said that, I know at least one other reader had the same issue you did…I’m not sure why.
Hi Martha. Would you happen to have the gram weight of the 3 3/4 cups flour that has been sifted? Having that information would simplify the process so one could easily weigh out the correct amount of flour and then sift with the other dry ingredients. Thank you!
Hi Kerry – I’m sorry, we don’t…we write our recipes based on how we cook and bake in our kitchen and didn’t weigh the flour.
Would love to make your cookies. Salted butter? Or unsalted? The recipe doesn’t specify. Thank you.
Apologies Antonella – we use unsalted butter. I’ll update the recipe to clarify that. Thank you!
Batter was so sticky wouldn’t go thru bags. Very disappointed
It’s a very thick cookie dough – you could try a larger tip to make it easier to pipe. Or, we’ve had one reader make drop cookies with the dough.
Premature rating as I have not yet made but they look delicious! The included link took me to an Ateco #849 Closed Star Tip but there is some confusion as one comment on the link said they received an Open Star Tip when ordering. Can you tell me if I actually need an Open or Closed Star Tip and if the Ateco #849 is the correct tip to order from any site? thanks so much and Merry Christmas!!
Hi Denise – We used the closed star tip that is linked in the post – you’ll notice the photos on Amazon show a piped frosting example in a flat ribbed pattern similar to our cookies. The open star tip will give you a rounder piped shape. It can also work, but if you’d like your cookies to look like ours, I’d suggest buying the closed tip. Hope that helps.