Sunday, December 21, 2014

Almond Coffee Crisps

December 22, 2014


Another quick and easy recipe!  I'm going to have to be careful lest I run out of the Q&Es and have to finish up with all homemade fondant recipes (horrors!) or the equivalent.  Quick and easy certainly doesn't mean dull and tasteless, as these lovely little crisps will demonstrate.


I'll confess that even though I know that toasting nuts for 7 minutes (see?  I have been paying attention) makes the finished product taste better, I often don't bother to toast nuts for recipes that don't demand it.  I guess my theory is well, it's your recipe and if you don't care enough to toast the almonds, I don't either.  I believe this is called cutting off your nose to spite your face.  But toasting the almonds is essential with this recipe.  (Also, Woody was standing by my side, and I don't like to think what he'd do if I told him I was going to skip this step).


Besides the almonds, this is it for ingredients--vanilla, butter, sugar, and a mix of flour, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.  If you keep some almonds in the freezer at all times, you'll probably always have the ingredients on hand to mix up these babies.


Processing the almonds with the dry ingredients.  It takes a few minutes of steady processing to get the almonds powder-fine.


Add the butter, and you get this lovely, very malleable dough.


Divide the dough into thirds.  One third should be 126 grams, and I got 125, but even Woody said that was close enough.  It's fun when he gets all reckless like that.


But not so reckless he forgot about the ruler--cookies should be 1 and 3/4 inches wide!


Like this one.


A sheet of cookies after 5 minutes of baking, just before being rotated.  They puff up slightly and smell wonderful.  Do you remember Smell-O-Vision?  Even though it was listed as one of the 100 Worst Ideas of All Time, I wish I had it on my blog so you could smell these cookies baking.


And here they are after having the espresso powder sprinkled over them.  I didn't use a blush brush, since I only have one, and it's used for its intended purpose.  Actually, a silicone brush also worked well.  


The cookies are pictured with a glass of milk, and that's how my two-year-old grandson liked them.  (Despite the espresso, which I thought would be too strong for his little taste buds, he was fond of them, but his favorite is still the Kouign Amann).  But they're delicious with coffee (of course) or tea or probably a glass of sherry.  The espresso and toasted almonds combine to make a rather mysterious flavor (more than one person asked me what kind of spice was in them) which is greater than the sum of this simple cookie's parts.  Rose says tasting these is "like eating coffee-imbued air."  When I read that, I was unconvinced--why would I want to eat air?  But now I see what she means--they are so delicate and airy, and yet rich with butter and almonds.  It's a culinary miracle and a wonderful tribute to "Tubby" Bacon.  This is a fine cookie to add to your Christmas cookie plate or to eat any time of the year.

14 comments:

  1. Marie, you're so funny! Is it fun or nerve-wracking to have Woody watch you bake? I think I would be so nervous I'd make all kinds of mistakes. Your cookies are so perfect. Mine are rough around the edges and not smooth. I think I need to make it again.

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    1. I tease Woody in my blog, but he's really a lot of fun to work with, and he's helped me avoid numerous mistakes.

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  2. Oh..you need to press them all so flat? Maybe that's why...i just pressed in the centre? LOL!

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  3. And that first shot is great. It doesn't look like teeth :).

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  4. They look delish! Glad they passed muster with your grandson.

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  5. My little friend liked them too--they were simple enough to be gentle on the two year old palate.

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  6. You are so right--the coffee is more like a "mysterious flavor" than in-your-face coffee flavor, which I appreciate very much! I wish I had pulled out my ruler (tape measure, in my case) before I made one batch where they spread together and were untidy. Still delicious, just untidy!

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  7. Lovely - can't believe how some of us got fluffy cookies and some of us got flat cookies, yet we all seemed to like them. Hope you can stop by and see my delectable flat crisps.

    Patricia @ ButterYum
    http://www.butteryum.org/roses-alpha-bakers/2014/11/6/tbb-almond-coffee-crisps

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  8. Your cookies turned out great and they look pretty with the espresso powder brushed on top. I kinda wished they stayed puffy the way they were in the oven. Nevertheless, they tasted pretty good.

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  9. I wonder why yours look so fluffy as Patricia and Hanaa say. It must have something to do with the processing time. You dough seems to have held together beautifully. Mine was too soft. Anyway, your cookies look delicious.

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  10. "why would I want to eat air" ...indeed! Your cookies are lovely! I didn't sprinkle mine with espresso powder, but like how yours look (fancy), so I might try that next time...like tomorrow! I liked them so much I'm going to make more for Christmas gifting :)

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  11. They look great! I toasted the almonds too and have to admit that there was much more flavor. Plus they smelled good while toasting.

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  12. Marie!!! it's always a delightful surprise to be reacquainted with your writing style--so fun--so clever--so informative--so brilliant. even Woody agrees! this has been such a packed week with catchup from the tour and all sorts of future projects that we haven't gotten to see everyone's posting completely yet enough to be mystified by how different the results were. from our email exchanges i was surprised to discover that there were several deviations from the recipe as it was written. i should mention that when there is an alternative, we always try to list it. silpat is not the best surface for many types of cookies though it is great for caramel. we are very specific about bleached vs unbleached flour. dark pans will behave entirely differently from aluminum. and all this will contribute to varying results. so glad that despite everything you all seemed to enjoy the cookies. and Marie, your grandson has impeccable taste!

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  13. your almond coffee crisp look nice Marie and your step by step , the pictures are nice too, I'm sick again I think I got the bug in the air , I will try to post the cookie and also I made them again and they look better ...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - 2015 Marie and all of the Alpha Bakers....

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