Rum-Buttered Almond Cookies

This has become a favorite Christmas cookie in my household. Sliced almonds are the coating for little rounds of marzipan-like almond dough, and everything is drizzled in rum-butter. The flavor is intensely almondy, like pure marzipan, and the centers are soft and tender. They are a true delight. They only stay soft about 4 days in a cookie tin, but they won’t last that long.

It’s my take on the NYTimes recipe, with several changes. First of all, I make the cookies a little smaller. The original recipe says to portion the dough in 40g balls to make 18 cookies. However, when we made the balls measuring 40g the dough only yielded 14-15 cookies. We would rather have more cookies that are smaller. I also chill the dough before forming the balls to make the dough easier to work with. Recipe nerds may also appreciate that I reorganized the ingredient list. Also note that the original NYTimes version calls for way more sliced almonds than are needed to coat the cookies. Start with less in your bowl and add more as needed.

Rum-Buttered Almond Cookies

Sliced almonds are the coating for little rounds of marzipan-like almond dough, and everything is drizzled in rum-butter. The flavor is intensely almondy, like pure marzipan, and the centers are soft and tender. They are a true delight.

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Ingredients

  

For the Cookie Dough

• 3 cups (330 g) superfine almond flour
• 1 1/2 cups (185 g) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons dark rum

For the Rum-Butter

• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

To finish the cookies:

• 1 – 2 cups sliced almonds
• flaky sea salt

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Instructions

 

For the Cookie Dough

• In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk almond flour with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp salt, making sure there are no lumps. You may want to use a sifter.
• In a small bowl, beat egg whites, egg, almond extract, and 2 tsp rum. Mix until no streaks remain.
• Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the egg mixture into it. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until no dry spots remain.
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator about an hour.

For the Rum-Butter

• In the meantime, combine in a small bowl the melted butter, 2 tablespoons dark rum, 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

To make the cookies:

• Heat the oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Lightly brush some of the rum butter on the parchment.
• Pour the sliced almonds in a shallow bowl. Start with less and add more as needed.
• Working a few at a time, scoop small mounds about 1.5 – 2 TBS in size and roll them in your hands to form balls. Roll the balls in the sliced almonds and press slightly so each ball is thoroughly coated. Transfer to the lined baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each one. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Brush the tops of the balls with rum-butter, stirring the rum-butter it as needed. Bake until the cookies become slightly golden at the edges and the almonds start to toast, 20-22 minutes.
• Immediately after pulling the cookies from the oven, brush them with more rum-butter and top with flaky sea salt.
• Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room tem for up to 4 days.

Other favorite Christmas cookies: