Day 2: Pains d’Amande

Or Brown Sugar Almond Slices.

I’ve come across this recipe a number of times in my endless trolling for cookie recipes online and I even have the book that it was originally published in.  By all accounts, it is a perfect cookie.  Nutty, buttery, crisp and perfect with tea or coffee.  It’s also a good keeper and the recipe makes a huge batch of cookies so that you can keep most of the dough in the freezer for cookie emergencies.  I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to try this recipe, actually, since so many bakers that I respect have raved about this cookie.  But, better late to the party than never, right?

The dough comes together quite easily and then you press it all into a square pan.  Place in the fridge to firm up overnight.

Then, the next day, you can slice them up.

And bake them.  I only baked a quarter of my dough, which made roughly three dozen.  The rest I wrapped and froze for the future.  This was a really good recipe to kick off the cookie baking season here.

It’s quite a good cookie, though not fancy to look at.  The little bit of spice makes it more than just an almond butter cookie.   I suspect that this is one of those cookies that doesn’t impress you at first, but is instead the reliable one that you can count on when a cookie situation arises.  It’s the type of cookie that you can eat everyday of the year and not get tired of it, which makes it actually quite special indeed.

Recipe for Pains d’Amande can be found here.

Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing.  More details here.  Tell me, What cookie can you eat everyday and never get tired of?