Almond Joyfuls

When I started baking, I was a not-so-wealthy college student and part-time retail employee. I would bake lots of different recipes, often asking friends and coworkers what I should make. I would have some cookbooks with me and people would note which recipes they thought sounded good. I had one rule: no recipes with almond paste. Almond paste was just too expensive for me to buy with the little money that I had.

Well, times are a little different now. I work for a school, so I certainly am not wealthy, but there’s a little more money for those extras. I try to find recipes where I don’t have to buy too many ingredients. For this recipe, I had everything on hand except the almond paste. (I have no idea why we had coconut extract.) I figured I could splurge and go ahead and get the more expensive ingredient. I’m glad I did because these are wonderful. The house smelled incredible while these were baking.

These have all the flavors of the candy bar with the similar name. I imagine that many people are tired of candy by this time, but I think these cookies will win anyone over. When I melted the chocolate it wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped, but it worked out ok. The cookies are really good on their own, without the topping, so that’s just a bonus anyway.

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
¼ cup (2.25 ounces) almond paste
1 egg
1 cup shredded coconut
2-1/3 cup flour

1 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
Chopped toasted almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, extracts, and almond paste. Add the egg, mixing until fairly smooth. Stir in the coconut and the flour.

Drop by tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Gently flatten each cookie to about 2 inches in diameter. Bake for 14 minutes, until the edges are light golden brown. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the topping: combine the chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter in a small saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Dip the tops of the cookies in the chocolate and then sprinkle with chopped almonds.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion