21 Days of Cookies: Day 7
I’m always on the lookout for a cookie that’s different – not just some slight permutation of sugar-butter-flour. Not that there’s anything wrong with sugar-butter-flour, lord knows. But variety is the spice of life. So when I saw this recipe I perked up a little. Coffee? Cinnamon? Almond? That’s definitely different.
First of all, this cookie starts with a shortening base and a whopping 2 cups of brown sugar (no white sugar)! Then you add the usual suspects, plus cinnamon, almonds, and a full half cup of room temperature coffee. The resulting flavor profile is like a delicious cup of gourmet coffee. It’s hard (for me anyway) to identify the cinnamon and almond, it’s like a brand new flavor. It’s surprisingly hard to eat only one. This cookie was born to be enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee.
The dough is soft and a bit of a pain to work with. Because there is no baking powder, these are spreaders, so you should portion it out in 1-inch teaspoon scoops on your pan. You can fit 12 cookies to a pan if you keep them small.
Once, a long time ago, I downloaded a cookie recipe from the interwebs. In the yield notes it said: “Makes: A hell of a lot.” That goes for this one, too. You’re going to get about 6 dozen cookies, so consider this for a ladies tea or other big gathering.
Almond Cinnamon Coffee Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup brewed coffee room temperature
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup slivered almonds toasted
Topping
- ¼ cup slivered almonds toasted
- 3 tbsp granulated white sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Cream shortening and brown sugar.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add coffee, stirring slowly until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon.
- Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir until combined.
- Add 1 cup toasted almonds and stir to combine.
- Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Top each cookie with one slivered almond. Push down slightly to secure the almond in the center. The cookies will spread considerably.
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until firm.
- Combine 3 tbsp sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
- Immediately upon removal from the oven, sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of cinnamon-sugar mixture.
