Bluebird Bakers
2390 NW Thurman – Portland
$2
Man, have I been on some kind of an almond jag lately. I made marzipan for the first time a couple of weeks ago (so much easier than I realized). I also bought a Bakeshop almond croissant at Extracto Coffeehouse last week, and anyone who knows me knows that this is far off of my beaten pastry path. Not sure what’s happening in my head and mouth, but something in there is telling me it needs to eat almond paste.
This amaretto cookie isn’t almond paste, exactly, but it might as well be. I’ve actually made these a few times (a great Passover cookie, btw – flour less!); the recipe is in The Gourmet Cookie Book, which highlights the single best cookies by year from 1941-2009 – so I’m guessing quite a LOT of people have made them before.
I think they call them “pine nut macaroons” in the cookbook, which is misleading because the cookie is made entirely from ground almonds – with only a solitary pine nut resting atop. When I make it I use a sliced almond instead because the pine nut seems like false advertising. Apparently Bluebird Bakers agrees with me on this (see photo).
Here’s what’s in it:
- ground almonds (aka almond flour, aka almond meal)
- egg whites
- sugar
- almond extract
- salt
Bluebird does a nice job of it – turning out a much larger cookie than the mini bite size style that I make. It’s dry to the touch on the outside, soft, chewy and almondy on the inside.
Perfect amount of salty hit (just enough to make the flavors sing).
Note: this is not an almond butter situation; the texture and flavor are decidedly amaretto.
Bonus: naturally gluten free
Good.