Almond Crisps - 杏仁脆片

Almond crisps were one of my favorite childhood cookies - just the right level of sweetness infused with the natrual aroma of fresh almonds. I remembered that these were pretty expensive compared to other cookies in the bakery (probably because it involves lots of fresh almond slices), so I decided to try making it myself. These turned out to be surprisingly easy to make, so I'm going to share the recipe with all of you here! Lets get started!

Materials:

A. a pinch of salt

B. 1/2 cup all purpose flour

C. 4 large eggwhites

D. 3/4 cup granulated sugar

E. 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

F. 10oz. sliced almonds

Directions:



1. soften butter to ~room temperature. You may allow the butter to sit at room temperature until the temperatures equilabrate, but i heated it up in the microwave for ~20 seconds to speed up the process. your goal is to get the butter softened, but not melted.

2. add in the sugar and cream together the softened butter and sugar with a spatula. Do not use an electric mixer as you do not want to fluff up the mixture.

3. add the eggwhites into the butter/sugar creamed mixtured and mix until smooth. Since there are lumps in eggwhites and the consistency of eggwhites and the butter/sugar mixture is quite different, it may be difficult to mix them into a smooth mixture using a spatula. I found using an electric mixer for this step to be easier. mix until the mixture is smooth, but do not over beat causing the whites to fluff.



4. add in the sifted flour and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. use an electric mixer to mix the batter until smooth. place the mixture into the fridge for ~30 min (or 10 mins in the freezer to speed it up). This will allow the consistency of the mixture to become slightly thicker.





5. add in the sliced almonds and fold in with a spatula. do not use an electric mixer for this step, it will break the almond slices into crumbs. mix everyhting together until all the almond slices are well coated with the batter. preheat your oven to ~305degrees F (~140-150 degrees C).

6. line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop some of the mixture prepared in the previous step onto the baking sheet and spread them into thin disks. It is important that these are not "Dropped" onto the baking sheet like other cookie doughs as they will not spread on their own in the oven. you must spread them out into thin disksmaking sure that the center is not too much thicker than the edges as shown  in the picture below.

7. bake the crisps at ~305degrees F (~140 - 150 degrees C) for 15 - 20 minutes making sure the edges do not burn. Once the crisps look golden brown, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets.

Voila! you just made your own home made almond crisps! these are not too sweet and make wonderful snacks or desserts to go along with tea! so now sit down and enjoy some!

Some people may be tempted to add some vanilla extract in the batter, but i feel that this would over power the aroma of the fresh almond slices in the crisps so I would advise against it.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? please post me a comment and I'll be sure to get back to you!

Have fun in the kitchen :)


-Ney