- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups blanched almonds
- 2 cups extra virgin olive oil*
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
- 2 cups confectioners sugar (divided)
* Be sure to use high quality, fresh, extra virgin olive oil. Just as other shortbread recipes calls for top quality butter, it is critical that you use a good oil.
Time - 2 hours**
- Preparation - 1 hour**
- Baking (325 degrees) - 1 hour (3 times 20 minutes)
Preparation
- If like me, you prefer to blanch your own almonds, begin with this step
- Place the almonds in a pot of boiling water and boil for 60 seconds
- While the almonds are boiling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- After boiling for 60 seconds, strain, and lay the almonds onto a paper towel. They should easily slip out of their skin
- Once blanched, lay the almonds on a tray covered with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet
- Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes until a light sandy-pinkish brown. Be sure to monitor the almonds to ensure they don't burn
- Place the toasted almonds in a food processor and grind until finely chopped
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, chopped almonds, 1 cup confectioner sugar, and stir
- Sprinkle the vanilla extract and brandy over the dry ingredients
- Add the olive oil and knead into a dough
- The dough should stick together when pressed but have a slight crumbly feeling, which is characteristic of a shortbread dough. If too crumbly, add olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until the right consistency is achieved
- These traditional cookies are often shaped into crescents, buttons, or balls. For simplicity's sake, I chose to shape them into buttons using a tablespoon measure
- If you want to do the same, fill a tablespoon measure with some dough, pressing the dough to give it the rounded shape of the measure. Once shaped, place the cookies on a baking tray covered with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet
- While shaping the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees
- Bake the cookies in the oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes, until they begin to turn a very slight sandy color
- Once cooled, place the cookies in a pan with the remaining confectioner sugar and coat
- Your cookies are ready to be enjoyed by all. Wishing you a very merry Christmas from our family to yours!