The Cookie:
1 lemon, grated rind + juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups bread flour
The Topping:
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 cup shredded almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Making the Cookies
Grate the lemon rind and mix with the sugar.
Cream with the butter (we softened the butter in the microwave a little) and the lemon juice.
Beat in the egg yolks one a time.
To this mixture, slowly add the flour by sifting it into the batter to make a thick dough. Ours was too crumbly, so we added a skosh of milk until the dough held together.
Roll dough into balls about the size of a walnut.
Arrange all the dough balls on cookie sheets with enough space between to smash them without touching.
Gently flatten (smash) the balls with the base of a glass. We used vintage forest green Anchor Hocking depressionware glasses for their flower decoration that came out (slightly) in the cookies, but the impression was fully covered by the topping, so any flat glass will do.
We took a shortcut with the almonds. The recipe called for them to be blanched and shredded. We used pre-sliced almonds and toasted them until just barely crispy. Then, we lightly food processed them to make a chunky crumble.
Combine the almonds with sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the egg white and water and beat. Brush this mixture over the top face of the cookies.
After brushing the the cookies, sprinkle the almond/sugar/cinnamon topping thickly over the cookies. Like, VERY thickly. Pile that stuff on. Note that the recipe quantity included here left us with a LOT of leftover topping, which would be good sprinkled on most holiday desserts. But maybe half the quantity would do fine.
Bake at 350 degrees until just golden brown, maybe 10 minutes (watch them).
Allow to cool on a rack and enjoy!
Let us know what you think! padutchtable@gmail.com