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These eggless white almond cookies are packed with the aroma of nutty almonds, and crunchy texture. They are incredibly easy to assemble and do not need special kitchen gadgets.
What is a white almond cookie?
The traditional Chinese almond cookies usually use ground almonds (almond flour), dotted with a whole almond or slice almond on top and then brushed with egg wash before baking so they have a golden brown appearance. These popular Chinese New Year cookies get their name from the pale whitish appearance after baking. The white almond cookies also have almond flakes (or we called it sliced almonds here in the U.S) added to the cookie dough, no baking soda and/or baking powder and egg wash are used. The texture of the cookie is crunchy.
How to make white almond cookies
1. Toast the sliced almonds on a dry pan until lightly golden brown over medium-low heat. Remove and let them cool down completely
You can also toast them in the oven by spreading them evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 350 F preheated oven for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool down completely
2. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. Lower the temperature by 20 degrees if you have a convection oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a whisk.
3. Then gradually add the oil as you mix everything with a spatula. It won’t come into a dough yet
4. Switch to using your clean hands, add the toasted almond flakes and knead into a soft but non-sticky dough
5. Place the cookie dough in between two parchment papers and use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick
6. Use a 1.5-2 inch round cookie cutter and cut the dough out as closely as possible (so you don’t have to re-roll the scrape dough too many times later). I don’t have a cookie-cutter that size, so I just use a 1-inch nozzle tip as my cookie cutter
7. Place the cut dough on a prepared baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. They don’t expand much. Gather the scraped dough flatten it again and repeat the same step above
8. Bake in a preheated oven on the middle rack for about 15-18 minutes. The top should be kinda pale in color and the bottom is just lightly golden brown
Tips
1. I use super-fine almond flour. If you ground your almond flour, make sure they are skinless and grind them as fine as possible
2. I recommend using peanut oil as it brings out the aroma of the cookies even more, but of course, you can use any neutral-tasting cooking oil as you wish
Did you make this white almond cookies recipe?
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You may also like these traditional Chinese almond cookies
Easy Chinese Almond Cookies (for Chinese New Year)
Chinese New Year White Almond Cookies (白杏仁饼)
Ingredients
- 75 gr sliced almonds (almond flakes)
- 75 gr cooking oil or more as needed. See notes
Dry ingredients:
- 120 gr all-purpose flour
- 25 gr super-fine almond flour
- 50 gr icing sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Toast the sliced almonds on a dry pan until lightly golden brown over medium-low heat. Remove and let them cool down completely
- You can also toast them in the oven by spreading them evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 350 F preheated oven for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool down completely
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven (bottom heat only). If you have convection oven (top and bottom heat, no fan), lower the temperature by 15 Fahrenheit/20 degrees Celcius. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
Prepare the cookie dough:
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a whisk. Then gradually add the oil (start with 60 grams of oil ) as you mix everything with a spatula. It won't come together into a dough yet. Switch to using your clean hands, add the toasted almonds and knead into a dough. It may seem like the dough is a bit dry and won't come together, but it will, just keep kneading and it will come together. Don't be tempted to add more oil unless the dough is very dry and won't come together. You will get a semi-soft dough but not sticky
Shaping:
- Place the cookie dough in between two parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick. Use a 1-1 /2 inch round cookie cutter and cut the dough out as closely as possible (so you don't have to re-roll the scrape dough too many times later). Reshape the cut cookie dough lightly with your fingers after that
- Place the cut dough on a prepared baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. They don't expand much. Gather the scrape dough and flatten again and repeat the same step above
Baking:
- Bake in a preheated oven on the middle rack for about 15-18 minutes (this also depends on the size of the cookie you make). The top should be kinda pale in color and the bottom is just lightly golden brown
- Let the cookies cool down on the pan completely. They will crisp up further as they cool down
Storing:
- Once the cookies have cooled down completely, transfer to an air-tight container and they can be kept for weeks this way
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
Marv's Recipe Notes
- You can also use neutral-tasting oils like corn oil, avocado oil, canola oil, etc.
13 comments
This recipe is not for me. Unlike some of the other comments, I do not have any issues with the cooking time. The cookies are crunchy but they are on the bland side. After trying your peanut cookies, kuih momo, and sesame cookies, I think I’ll skip this one in the future. There’s nothing wrong with the recipe. It’s just not to my liking.
Thank you for your input Judy! I guess not all can be a winner 🙂 I’ll probably revisit this recipe again and see if anything can be improved!