An Attempt (Baked Goods): Marcona Almond Cookies
“An Attempt” is a recurring series on Natetheworld.com. In the series, we take a recipe found via a cookbook, website, or app, and attempt to recreate it using the instructions provided. “An Attempt (Baked Goods)” is my current writing project and focuses solely on baked treats.
Introduction: For this recipe, I continued working my way through “Dessert Person” by Claire Saffitz.
In my limited experience, the art of baking cookies has always meant opening a yellow package of Nestle Toll House cookie dough, haphazardly arranging cookies on a baking sheet, and patiently waiting while my home filled with the aroma of chocolate chip cookies. I have never once found myself disappointed by the end result. I am sure I just offended someone with those words, but for my money and limited baking abilities, this path toward my goal of a cookie has never disappointed me.
But I want to be a better baker, and every baker needs a reliable cookie recipe. While I begin a lifetime search for that recipe, I have decided to explore, bake, and hone my skills. This journey delivered me to Marcona Almond Cookies.
Reaction: This isn’t a complicated recipe. You don’t need a lot of special equipment (beyond a food processor) or ingredients. You might have some difficulty finding the Marcona almonds and almond paste, but a good specialty store should carry both. I found both the almonds and almond paste on Amazon.
Assembling the dough was simple, shockingly simple. Where I struggled was in my piping technique. After removing the assembled dough from the food processor, everything is transferred to a piping bag. From there, the dough is piped onto a parchment lined baking sheet. I found this rather difficult. My piped cookies did not have a consistent shape or pattern. They weren’t going to win any beauty contests.
My other challenge was a slight misreading of the recipe. I had enough almonds for the dough, but not enough to top the cookies. I knew this would not destroy the recipe, but as a rule follower, I was kicking myself for not following the recipe exactly as written.
Beyond those challenges, the cookies were spectacular. They were almond forward. They were crisp on the outside and soft on the outside. Our oven runs a little hot, so the cookies were slightly browned on the bottom. I should have pulled them a few minutes before the suggested time, but the darkened flavor on the bottom of the cookies only enhanced the flavor in my opinion.
I do not think this will be my go-to cookie recipe, but it is a recipe that will be added to my growing arsenal.
Be good to each other,
Nathan
As a member of the factory, you are taking a stand for human powered creation.
