I needed another gluten-free recipe for Passover and decided to try one that was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times' Culinary SOS Column, Bartavelle's Almond Sour Cherry Cookies. Some of my favorite bars of all time are Alice Medrich's "Chewy Cherry Almond Bars" from Cookies and Brownies, and I was hoping that these cookies would be their cookie equivalent.
This is a very easy recipe that requires only six ingredients. I started out with almond flour instead of whole almonds to make it even easier. I mixed all of the dough ingredients (almond flour, sugar, egg whites, almond extract, and salt) in the food processor until they came together. I quickly realized that I had just made homemade almond paste. I used a #50 scoop to portion out the dough and I got 43 cookies. Instead of just putting one dried cherry in the middle of each cookie, I decided double up on the cherries -- so I just counted out 86 dried tart cherries, soaked them in hot water to soften, and drained and patted them dry. Then I just wrapped each piece of dough around two cherries, flattened the cookies into a disc, and baked them until lightly golden.
I thought the cookies were ugly. They hardly spread at all during baking and looked like rocks, with an uneven surface. If I saw these offered on a platter at a party I doubt I would bother to pick one up. But that would be my loss, because these cookies are freakin' delicious. My initial reaction upon biting into one of these cookies was serious concern -- because the outside was quite hard and I was wondering if I had another sfratti situation on my hands. But once you make it through the hard shell, the inside is ultra chewy and super almond-y. And, of course, cherries and almonds are a perfect flavor pairing.
As I have mentioned many times before, almond is my absolute flavor. And these cookies are basically almonds and sugar with just enough egg white to bind them together, so there's nothing I don't love about them. The cherry in the middle is just a bonus. These cookies are small and unattractive, but don't let that deter you -- they are amazing.
Recipe: "Bartavelle's Almond Sour Cherry Cookies" from the December 1, 2017 Los Angeles Times.
This is a very easy recipe that requires only six ingredients. I started out with almond flour instead of whole almonds to make it even easier. I mixed all of the dough ingredients (almond flour, sugar, egg whites, almond extract, and salt) in the food processor until they came together. I quickly realized that I had just made homemade almond paste. I used a #50 scoop to portion out the dough and I got 43 cookies. Instead of just putting one dried cherry in the middle of each cookie, I decided double up on the cherries -- so I just counted out 86 dried tart cherries, soaked them in hot water to soften, and drained and patted them dry. Then I just wrapped each piece of dough around two cherries, flattened the cookies into a disc, and baked them until lightly golden.
As I have mentioned many times before, almond is my absolute flavor. And these cookies are basically almonds and sugar with just enough egg white to bind them together, so there's nothing I don't love about them. The cherry in the middle is just a bonus. These cookies are small and unattractive, but don't let that deter you -- they are amazing.
Recipe: "Bartavelle's Almond Sour Cherry Cookies" from the December 1, 2017 Los Angeles Times.
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