These Almond Thin Cookies are one of my favorites. They are incredibly addicting because they are so thin and crispy. They are also really nice to give as gifts! I also just love how simple they are, but really beautiful. The almonds dotting the cookie is just so pretty. These go incredibly well with coffee! They are actually some of those rare cookies that are perfect to have a around when you are craving something a little sweet, but don’t want to necessarily go for it. Enjoy!
♥ Teri
Try our Salted Cashew Brittle, or our Kitchen Sink Cookies!
Pain d’Amande (Almond Thin Cookies)
Servings:
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 ½ cups turbinado sugar sugar in the raw
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon water
- 1 cup blanched and skinned almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Place butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until butter melts and sugar is semi dissolved. Remove from heat and cool for about 15 minutes.
- Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated and a thick dough forms.
- Fold in almonds.
- Firmly press dough into a lightly greased (9”x 5”) loaf pan (one with straight sides would be best).
- Press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the pressed dough and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 2 days (the dough needs to be very firm).
- Preheat oven to 325˚F.
- Remove chilled dough from loaf pan and cut in half crosswise and then lengthwise (so you have four pieces).
- Using a sharp knife, slice cookies as thin as possible (⅛ inch or thinner) from one of the logs and place them onto 2 parchment lined baking sheets, about 1 ½ inches apart.
- Bake cookies (one baking sheet at a time) for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Flip each cookie over and continue to bake for another 7 to 8 minutes or until cookies are a honey to golden brown color and have crisped up (they will crisp up completely as they cool more).
- Remove cookies from oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
- Repeat steps 9-11 with the remaining cookie dough.
- Once cookies have cooled completely serve or store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
NOTES
- Makes about 100 Cookies
CUISINE: Belgium
KEYWORD: almond cookies
COURSE: Dessert
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Delicious crunchy cookies! i can’t get them as thin as Trader Joe’s, but my husband prefers these. The fact they are thicker make them better for dipping in coffee or tea, like biscotti.
Hi, I don’t know why but my cookies didn’t spread very much while baking and were very white. Should I cook the butter and sugar longer to give it that nice brown colour? They taste great anyways. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I will definately try it again!
Delicious! Can they be frozen?
Yes! The fully baked cookies can be frozen in an airtight freezer bag or container for up to 2 months!
These cookies are very good! I put half the amount of sugar, and it was still great. I recommend this recipe 👍
I love this recipe. It has been a repeat for my Christmas cookies the last 3 years and everyone loves them! However I can’t get them as pretty, thin, and smooth as the pictures no matter how sharp the knife is. Holding it still for cutting, super gently, the quarters before squished and tiny for the end. Also at least 50% of the time when I hit an almond it squishes. I chill the dough overnight and keep it in the fridge while cutting each quarter. Any tips on what I’m doing wrong? Thanks!!
another recipe online similar to this had you flatten half of the dough and a big baking pan or cookie sheet and then cut them while they were still hot. Maybe try that?
Are these similar to the Jules Destrooper almond thins?
YES!!
Can I make these cookies ahead of time and freeze or will the nuts become soft /soggy
These tasted incredible but just like someone else mentioned, my dough after chilling was a solid block and started to crumble when I was slicing. Will try to make it again to see if I overlooked some part of the technique simply because of how good these were.
We love these so much, thank you for sharing! The batches I have made so come out a little wrinkly though, not particularly smooth on the top side, do you have any tips for producing a smoother biscuit please?
Hm…did the slices you make (from the dough loaf) come out wrinkly? Chilling the dough definitely helps!
Hello, is it me or what, but I don’t see where it say’s, “how many almonds”?
Hi Debbie! It’s the last ingredient on the list. “1 cup blanched and skinned almonds”
Hola, podrias colocar los ingredientes en gramos?
Consulta: cual es el azúcar turbinada? Quiero hacerla, pero me sería mucho mas fácil si la receta estuviera en gramos.
H! We have a unit conversion at the bottom of the ingredient list that should pull up gram measurements!
Just baked this with my mom and oooomg they’re incredible
So glad you loved these!!
Can you just use regular granulated sugar? And can these be dropped from a spoon onto cookie sheets? Also, I am going to use sliced almonds. Can I add almond extract, too?
You can use granulated sugar, but you won’t get the sugar crystal crispiness throughout the thins. Also, these are meant to be really thin cookies so I’m not sure how they’ll turn out if they’re just scooped like regular cookies. Adding almond extract should be fine!
When I took the dough from the pan (chilled overnight in fridge) it was a solid block but it crumbled apart when I tried to slice it. Any thoughts on the loose chalky texture?
I suggest you add a tablespoon of water to the dough—it’s almost the same consistency to a shortbread cookie and short crust pastry dough. If you don’t want to add water; you can always wait until it thaws a little, but that would make it harder to get a thinner cookie. These are my suggestions from personal experience. Also, if the almonds get in the way to cut your cookies, put them onto your cookie after you cut the dough. I hope this helps you!
Hey Jenny
I was actually searching for some great cookies to gift one of my friends and I found your blog. You have such great recipes. I also loved your pork belly porchetta recipe. WIll make it soon. But for now, I am going to make these delicious looking cookies for my friend.
Thanks again for the lovely recipe!
Happy new year to you and your family.
Hi Corrie, thanks for the kind words! Glad you found us + hope you enjoy our site!! ????
I made these for Christmas and they were great! Any tips on getting the dough out of the loaf pan? I used a butter knife to loosen the edges but still had to smush the loaf on one side to pry it out of the bottom of the pan.
Glad you liked the cookies! You can line the pan with parchment or wax paper, with two sides hanging on the sides for easier removal from the pan! Thanks for letting me know you had a bit of an issue, as I’ll add that tip to the recipe! :)
Hi, are almonds whole? They appear sliced… did that just happen when you cook the cookies?
I meant when you cut the cookies not cook them LOL
Hi! They are whole and get sliced once you cut the cookies. You can use sliced almonds too though!