Shortbread cookies with almond flour

Easy-peasy, gluten-free morsels 

Cookie bars and brownies are a no-brainer when it comes to bringing a sweet to share. But when charged with dessert at a dinner party where the hostess avoids gluten, what's a baker to do? After a light google, a King Arthur Flour recipe for gluten-free almond flour shortbread cookies quickly became the winner. 

With just five simple ingredients and a bake time of 8–10 minutes, it was a fairly easy choice. You can flavor these little gluten-less nuggets with almond extract, vanilla, or even lemon. I doubled the recipe and divided my dough in two for half almond, half vanilla.

- - - - - - - 

SHORTBREAD COOKIES WITH ALMOND FLOUR

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
1 cup almond flour 
3 TBS softened butter
3 TBS confectioners sugar 
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract, or 1/4 tsp almond extract

WHAT YOU'LL DO
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until a cohesive dough forms (I used a fork, then switched to my hands).

3. Scoop 1-inch balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Arrange the balls of dough about 2 inches apart. (You will get 12–15 cookies out of this recipe, depending how large you make them.)

4. Use a fork to flatten each cookie to about 1/4-inch thick, making a crosshatch design. Or, for an almond version, flatten each dough ball a bit with the fork, then gently press a slivered almond in the center of each. (If you don't press the almond in enough, it may pop off later — but it's just for garnish, so no biggie.) 

5. Bake the cookies for 8–10 minutes, until they are just starting to turn golden. (These do get dark on the bottom quickly, so definitely check them at the 8-minute mark. If the bottoms look golden, they're done.) 

6. Remove cookies from the oven, and cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Before serving, I dusted the vanilla cookies with a little powdered sugar, just for prettiness. 

- - - - - - -

The amounts of vanilla and almond extract are for one batch of cookies. So if you double the recipe and divide the dough in half to make two flavors of cookie, you'll still do a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract in one half of your dough and 1/8 tsp of almond extract in the other half of your dough. Almond extract is much more potent than vanilla, which is why a little goes a long way. 

By doubling the recipe, I got about 24 cookies — and I'm happy to say they were all gone by the end of our four-person, gluten-free dinner party. Sounds like too many cookies for four people in one evening, but these babies are really adorably tiny — and addictive. Perfect little morsels, whether you're eating gluten or not.