Cafe Fernando's Almond Cookies

A cup of coffee and some flaky almond cookies with a new book in my hand I am sitting in my balcony trying to ignore screaming kids and enjoying the beautiful weather. Summer is officially here. After coming back from an exhausting volunteering project in İzmir, I can finally relax and have a time of my own. 

A couple of months ago I bought a new cooking book called Cafe Fernando. It is written by the famous food blogger "Cenk Sönmezsoy" who loves San Francisco, baking, chocolate and macarons, just like me. He has won many awards with his blog, book and original recipes. I wish I had found his blog earlier but late is better than never. 

photos from: http://bigumigu.com/haber/tasarim_gozu_olan_kurabiye_ustalari_araniyor_cafefernando 

I tried the first recipe on his book called "Cenk's Home Cookies". In Turkey, every mother or grandmother has their special cookie recipe that they can pass on to their children and grandchildren. We do not have a specific recipe written on a piece but my grandmother always bakes the best cookies by measuring with her eyes and experimenting with different nuts and fruits. And as you can imagine it might be very difficult to follow a recipe where you are asked a handful of sugar and plenty of flour. This is why I chose to try Cafe Fernando's recipe. 

photo from: http://bigumigu.com/haber/tasarim_gozu_olan_kurabiye_ustalari_araniyor_cafefernando

The cookies are so good that you cannot stop eating. It is not to sweet but has a crunchy topping and a flaky texture which is what I love in a cookie. I highly recommend that you try this because it is purely worth your time. It is time to use those almonds that you have bought a couple of months ago and that you couldn't use them because you've spent too much money on. Believe me it is worth it. I hope you'll enjoy. 

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup ground almonds

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/4 cup coconut flakes

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

200 g. butter, cold and cut into very small cubes

1 large egg, yolk and white separated

2/3 cup almond flakes

Directions:

1) Combine the ground almonds, powdered sugar, salt, flour and coconut flakes in a food processor until you have a crumbly texture. 

2) Add in the butter into the food processor and mix until you have a doughy texture. My food processor was not big enough, so I repeated this process in batches. 

3) Transfer your flour-butter mixture into a large mixing bowl and add in the egg yolk. Combine until you have a smooth dough. You can also work the dough on the kitchen counter if you want to or continue mixing in the food processor.

4) Take two parchment papers and place the dough in the middle. First pat the dough with your hand and make sure it is somewhat of a circular shape. Then with a rolling pin, roll the dough until it has a 25 cm diameter and 1 cm thickness. 

5) Transfer the cookie dough on a cutting board with the parchment papers and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, until it is firm.

6) Take the dough and remove the parchment paper on top. By using a 5 cm cookie cutter, cut the cookies and transfer them to a cutting board lined with the parchment paper that you tore from the top of the cookie dough. Place the cut cookies. Take all the scrap cookie dough and form another ball, roll it out with the same thickness, cut into circles and repeat the process. 

7) Whisk the egg white for about 1 minute with a fork. Brush the tops of the cookies with the egg white. 

8) Place the almond flakes in a shallow bowl. Take the cookies one by one and place them on the almond flakes, egged side down. Press the cookies so that the almonds stick to the top of the cookies. 

9) Transfer the cookies to the cutting board lined with parchment paper and chill them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes without covering the tops. 

10) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

11) Place the chilled cookies on a baking tray with 3 cm apart. Bake in the oven for 22-24 minutes until golden brown.

12) When the cookies are baked, let them rest on the tray and cool down for at least 20 minutes. 

Enjoy. 

Recipe from Cenk Sönmezsoy's Cafe Fernando Cookbook by Okuyanus Publishing.