Ingredients
Units
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste or extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds, lightly toasted
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips (or chopped caramelized white chocolate, or a mix of white and butterscotch chips, see Notes below)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat butter with both sugars until creamy.
- Add egg, vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
- Add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, and salt) and mix until a few dry spots remain.
- Add white chocolate and almonds and mix until no dry spots remain.
- Drop large teaspoons on the prepared sheets, spacing them an inch or so.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until edges are firm and cookies are golden.
- Let cool completely on wire rack.
- Keep in tins or cookie jars.
For caramelized white chocolate:
- Preheat the oven to 300ºF /140ºC.
- In a shallow glass pan, spread the chopped white chocolate. Don’t overlap them too much. It’s better to make small batches.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes, stirring it every 5-10 minutes. It won’t melt immediately, and, depending on the brand, might never be silky, but lumpy. For this recipe that is fine.
- Once it’s as dark as you like, let it cool and chop it.
Notes
- White chocolate: I use the caramelized chocolate from Valrhona. You can easily substitute with a mix of white chocolate and butterscotch chips or chunks.
- Almonds: use both types of almonds called for in the recipe. They each add their own thing.
- Dough: the cookie dough can be kept for 2-3 days in the refrigerator or frozen for 2-3 weeks, always in a container with a tight-fitting lid. If freezing, I suggest forming the cookie balls and freezing them already formed. Simply bake them directly from the freezer.
- Variation: you can substitute walnuts for the almonds but they will lack the crunch that the sliced almonds bring. Add a tablespoon of your favorite liquor (Amaretto, Frangelico or Kahlua pair well) for a more sophisticated cookie.
- Prep Time: 70 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/30
- Calories: 122
- Sugar: 9.2 g
- Sodium: 68.1 mg
- Fat: 6.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.7 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 1.9 g
- Cholesterol: 15.2 mg