When it comes to holiday gatherings, bake sales, work events or even just an evening at home, almond cookies are a great addition. Almond cookies are a great change from the more traditional chocolate chip cookies and have a wonderful nutty flavor.

Often served in Chinese restaurants, almond cookies did not, however, originate in China, but have simply been co-opted after developing in the Western world. Regardless, almond cookies can also make a great complement to an Asian-inspired meal, along with adding some variety to your holiday cookie platter. And the Chinese are not the only culture that has made the almond cookie their own. Italians, Greeks and a variety of other cultures have created variations of the almond cookies that are all their own.

While not hard to make, almond cookie recipes do require several hours of refrigeration prior to baking and thus are somewhat more time consuming to make than are many other cookies, including sugar cookies or snickerdoodles, but their unique flavor and relative unusualness at most gatherings make the time more than worth it. If you want to learn how to make almond cookies, read on!

To make almond cookies, you will need the following:

Ingredients

1. 3 eggs
2. 2 1/2 cups of flour
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 2 tablespoons Amaretto or pure almond extract
5. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt
7. 1 cup shortening - this can be Crisco, butter, coconut oil or non-hydrogenated lard
8. 1 cup ground almonds
9. 1 cup almond halves, blanched

Equipment

1. Electric mixer
2. Large mixing bowl
3. Medium mixing bowl
4. Cookie sheet
5. Large chef's knife

1. Start by mixing together the salt, baking soda and flour in your medium-sized mixing bowl.
2. In your large mixing bowl, use your electric mixer to mix together your preferred shortening and the sugar.
3. After the shortening and sugar are well mixed, add the almond extract or amaretto.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to completely mix one egg in before adding another.
5. Slowly beat in the flour mixture you made earlier.
6. Finally, add the ground almonds.
7. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, cover the bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.

Once your dough has been refrigerated for at least 4 hours, you can bake the cookies themselves at your leisure.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
2. Take your dough and divide into quarters.
3. Roll each section into a log approximately 1 inch in diameter.
4. Slice the log into 1 inch wide pieces, then roll each of these pieces into a ball.
5. Place the balls onto your cookie sheet.
6. Press an almond half into the top of each ball of dough.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms have started to brown.