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12/4/12

Almond Lace Cookies: Not Every Recipe Is Perfect


Last month I received a little care package courtesy of Wayfair and Peapod. I will donate the $25 gift card from Peapod to a local charity, but am keeping the kitchen tools from Wayfair.


How cute is this Jessie Steele Oven Mitt? It's so pretty I might not even use it for fear of getting it dirty ;)

I will, however, get great use from the Switchit Spatula. It's 650F heat and stain resistant and is made from very flexible silicone. Plus, it's a two in one tool because one end is larger than the other. AND it's the same color as my kitchen: green! And since you know how much I love anything red in my kitchen, I liked these red bowls.


Since the holiday season is upon us, I decided to use these new kitchen toys to make something I've been meaning to make for quite some time and something that would be perfect for a get together with friends: Almond Lace Cookies from Nick Malgieri's Bake!


Almond Lace Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup finely ground blanched almonds

3 cookie sheets or jelly-roll pans, buttered with soft butter or a silpat

Directions
1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350F.
2. In a small mixing bowl, use a medium rubber spatula to stir together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the egg and beat until smooth.
3. Add the flour and almonds and stir smooth.


4. To save time, deposit all the batter on the pans right away. Drop level measuring teaspoons of the batter onto the pans at least 3 inches apart in all directions.


So far so good, right? Easy enough! That's what I thought.

But you just wait! The cookbook instructed to bake cookies until they have spread, came to a simmer in the pan and turned a deep golden color, 5-7 minutes. You then were supposed to remove the pan from the oven and immediately place another pan in to bake.

The cookies were supposed to be allowed to cool for 20 seconds, and then you had to REALLY FAST slide a wide thin-bladed spatula (I used a fish spatula) under the edge of the cookie and gently work the spatula back and forth to remove the cookie and place it on a parchment-covered wire rack.


Well, let's just say I did not have the same results as the recipe implied. I was able to remove some cookies from the cookie sheet in one piece, while the others fell apart.



What I found to work the best was to use a silpat to bake the cookies for 6 minutes, then let them sit for 1-2 minutes and only then to attempt to remove them. Is this 100% fool proof? Hardly! But that's what worked for me.


The great thing about this recipe is that these cookies taste AMAZING and the ones that do come off the pan in one piece are absolutely adorable.


Of course I had to take photos of these almond lace cookies with some of my favorite tea cups and on top of some lace ;) Classy, right?



Have YOU made almond lace cookies before? What did you do to make sure they were easily removed and stayed in one piece?

7 comments:

Whisked! said...

I haven't made these before, but looking at your first cookies, it looks like the dark baking pan is making them cook more quickly at the edges than they are at the center. So you have totally baked edges, and then not-quite-done centers which will stick to the pan and makes removing them a pain in the ass. They might bake more consistently on a lighter colored pan or at a slightly lower temp - but I think you're right that the silpat is the right way to go. It looks like they're baking much better on the silpat - the color is more consistent, and the edges won't overbake before the centers are done, which should make them easier to remove (and the silpat is nonstick, which helps). I'm sure that if you made them over and over again you would totally perfect both the baking time and the removal process - but isn't life kind of short for that?

Aviva Goldfarb said...

You crack me up, I love when people let the real story show, because we all have our kitchen disasters and follow recipes that really don't work. At least you recovered beautifully!

Jeanette Bratcher said...

The cookies are adorable displayed with the lace and tea cups. I love the tea cups by the way, they are beautiful!

Zomppa said...

I adore lace cookies and you have it served perfectly with tea!

Simone van den berg said...

Well in a few pieces or in one piece I am pretty sure these would taste really good! And I can't really count the times when something went wrong in my kitchen!

Lori @ Burp! blog said...

I feel like this is one of those recipes where a silpat or parchment is paramount... and I wonder if an adjustment in baking temperature for your oven is needed?

They sound delicious, regardless. But, I can just see the frustration in those smashed cookies :)

Olga @ MangoTomato said...

life is too short to try remaking them :) moving on to the next one!