Memah's Almond Shortbread Cookies

Contributed by Meera Hyphenated, who says:

Okay, I finally got around to posting my grandmother's famous Almond Shortbread cookies... They look like ho-hum, basic shortbread---but something about them... maybe the almond flour, maybe the granulated sugar? I don't know. People have told me that they're the best shortbread cookies they have ever had.

Oven: about 400°F
Makes about… oh, enough to fill a big cookie jar.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• ½ c. granulated sugar•
• ¼ tsp. salt•
• 1 c. almond flour or very finely chopped almonds (you can get the flour at Trader Joe’s) (My grandmother’s recipe calls for ground blanched almonds, but I like the flecks of brown in the cookies. Blanching is too much trouble, and pre-blanched ones are too expensive!)•
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract•
• ¼ tsp. almond extract•
• 4 c. all-purpose flour (My grandmother’s recipe called for a sifter-full of flour, which I gauged to be about 4 cups, but use your best judgment. If you use too much, the cookies will be too dry and tough, but if you don’t use enough, the cookies will melt instead of harden.)•
• Granulated sugar for rolling and storing the cookies

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the salt, almond flour and extracts.
3. With the mixer, add the flour gradually, until the dough is very stiff.
4. On a floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/3 inch thick (between ¼” and ½”).
5. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into long strips to make squares and rectangles, about 1” x 1” or maybe bigger. (My innovation is to make parallelograms!)
6. Place the cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet (I use a Silpat with great success). They don't rise, so they can be placed pretty close together.
7. Bake in a hot oven (400°F to 425°F) for about 10-12 minutes, until barely golden brown. (Keep an eye on them; they get overdone quite easily.)
8. While the cookies are hot, roll them in white granulated sugar (not confectioners’ sugar!).
9. Cool on wire racks. When the cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container, with more sugar sprinkled on top each layer, for added protection (and so more sticks to the cookies!) They’re often better the day after you make them—don’t ask me why. I haven’t tried freezing them, because they never last long enough for me to try!