Almond Sugar Cookies

There's a cookie place near-by called Eileen's Cookies. The iced sugar cookie from there are one of my very favorite cookies ever! I've tried a few times to create them at home, but I just can't seem to get it right. Eileen's are soft and almond-y with a yummy almond frosting on top. I saw these cookies on pinterest recently and decided to give it a try. The cookie is almost exactly like Eileen's!!!! Hooray!!! I don't have the frosting quite right yet, but I will try to add it next time and share the complete recipe. For today, I just rolled the cookies in coarse sugar. They were perfectly soft, moist, chewy, with great almond flavor! I think I ate too many...

   

Almond Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cold butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
3 teaspoons almond extract
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
turbinado or coarse sugar for rolling

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a handheld electric mixer in a large bowl), cream together the sugar, butter, and shortening. Add the eggs and almond extract, mixing on low to combine. 

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the large bowl and blend until just combined. 

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a silpat silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper.

      

Scoop about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball (I used a small cookie scoop to get all of the cookies the same size). Roll each cookie in the coarse sugar (I used colored coarse sugar, but you can also use turbinado sugar/sugar-in-the-raw). Place sugared cookies on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Do not flatten the cookies. Bake for 7 minutes.

    

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and immediately press each cookie gently with a spatula to flatten a bit. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet. When completely cool, remove the cookies from the baking sheet and serve. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!