Description

Soft and delicious, these cookies are sweet with a caramel tone and lots of crunchiness from the sliced almonds. A one-bowl recipe that makes a fantastic addition to your recipe collection.

Scale

Ingredients

1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter, at room tº
3/4 cup (150g) light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) white sugar
1 egg, at room tº
1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste or extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 cups (200g) 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 (150g) chopped caramelized white chocolate, or a mix of white and butterscotch chips (see notes)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat butter with both sugars until creamy.
Add egg and vanilla 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.

Tips & tricks for making this recipe:

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.

Keywords: white chocolate cookies, chocolate almond cookies