We asked our office what was their favorite cookie to bake during the holidays, both to enjoy themselves and to share with friends and family. We thought we’d share these recipes on the blog with all of you!
This is another cookie recipe from blogger Joy the Baker because which couldn’t decide which one we liked better! The almond paste gives the cookie the most delightful flavor, while the egg whites mean its light and fluffy. We also love the addition of orange zest which gives it a citrus kick. Yum!
Vanilla Cloud Cookies
Author: Joy Wilson
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 18-21
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 10 ounces almond paste
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar, orange zest, and scraped vanilla seeds. Use your fingers to works the zest and vanilla into the sugar, creating a fragrant, moist sugar.
- Place sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the almond paste and salt. Beat on medium speed creating a crumbly sugar and almond mixture.
- While almond mixture is combining in the mixer, place two egg whites in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork until loose and frothy. This will help in pouring the egg whites into the mixer. If the eggs are unbeaten, they’ll just plop into the mixing bowl and not pour in.
- With the mixer on medium speed, gradually pour the egg whites in to the crumbly almond and sugar mixture. Beat until a smooth paste is formed. Add the almond extract and beat to combine.
- Spoon or scoop batter by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. Using the tips of three of your fingers, make indentations in each cookie.
- Bake cookies for 20 to 25 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Find more dessert and cookie recipes on Joy’s blog, or browse recipes on How to Decorate.
Did you like this post and find it helpful? Rate it below and share your thoughts in the comments.
Natalia
Overall, these are fine cookies, but I am not sure if I bake them again. I’ve never baked with almond paste before, but the cookies with it turned out somewhat chewy, not the texture that I’d anticipated according to the pictures. Also, I don’t know if there are different kinds of almond paste out there, but the one I had already had sugar in it (which I hadn’t checked for before mixing the ingredients), and I found that adding additional cup of sugar was too much. The cookies do have a wonderful almond-vanilla-citrusy flavor to them but they were too sweet, which overpowered other flavors. For the same reason, I omitted sprinkling them with even more powdered sugar.
If I decide to bake them again, I’ll add half a cup of sugar, if the almond paste already has sugar in it.
Marie
These sound & look delicious! Also can be gluten free perfect for our family ! Thank you I will try them soon!
Monica Lavin
These cookies sound wonderful! The almond glaze sounds like the perfect compliment to the citrus flavor. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’ll have to try them sometime!