Happy Chinese Almond Cookie Day

I must confess this is the one food holiday in April that I wasn't exactly looking forward to - which is ironic considering my love for all cookies. But I am allergic to almonds. In fact, when I did try one of these cookies this evening (not eating the almond sliver decoration), I started to feel my tongue immediately swell a little. Good thing my in-laws (a doctor and nurse) are in town so they can administer an epiPen if necessary!

For those of you who are not allergic to almonds, you might want to try this recipe for buttery, shortbread-like Chinese Almond Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 large egg yolk

1 tbsp milk

1/2 cup blanched whole almonds

Instructions:

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add whole egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Stir in flour and baking powder. Cover bowl and chill until dough is firm (about one hour).

Shape dough into 1 inch balls, flatten slightly and place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet.

In small bowl, beat egg yolk and milk. Brush cookies lightly with egg mixture. Press an almond into center of each cookie.

Bake cookies at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes (until lightly browned). Cool five minutes and transfer to rack to cool completely.

And for those of you like me, who need to "cheat" every once and a while, these Twin Dragon Almond Cookies from the grocery store were the perfect little extra sweetness to end dinner this evening.