Tis’ the season when bakers are secretly—and fiercely if I might add—competing with each other for the title of best holiday cookie. You know who you are! I know a few of these competitors in my small circle of friends and family…but I won’t name names.
Regardless of whether you’re serious about your cookies or not, during the holiday season, bakers tend to go for the sure thing. Time-tested cookie recipes and traditional concoctions. But of course, when you prioritize certainty, you sacrifice points for originality! They’re the been-there-done-that cookies. (As Ina Garten would say) Who wants that? So it’s time for something new, bakers! How about these old-fashioned Chinese-style almond cookies?
What A Chinese Almond Cookie Should Taste Like
A crunchy almond cookie is perfectly crisp and crumbly. To get it right every time, the true Chinese almond cookie requires lard, not butter!
There are too many almond cookie recipes out there that call for butter. In fact, I tried this recipe with both butter and lard, and, let me tell you, there is no replacement for lard! I won’t sugarcoat it for you. (No pun intended…) Lard is what gives these old-fashioned almond cookies their distinctive crumbly texture and flavor.
So if you ask me if lard can be replaced with butter in the comments, the answer will be firm. In this case, no lard, no victory! A little extreme, but it’s true nonetheless!
One More Tip for Success
Another key to this almond cookie recipe is pre-toasting the nuts. Let them cool before using (they are left whole and placed on top of each cookie).
Pre-toasted nuts add a crunchier texture and nuttier flavor, elevating your baked goods to surpass the holiday competition!
Good luck and happy holidays, everyone!
Chinese Almond Cookies: Recipe Instructions
Sift together 1-1/4 cups (160 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ cup (95 g) powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons (20 g) cornstarch, 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda, and 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Sift the mixture together again to make sure that all the ingredients are light and well-incorporated.
Next, beat together the egg yolks with the melted lard (at room temperature). Beat in 1 teaspoon almond extract.
Slowly pour this mixture into the dry ingredients.
Fold the mixture with a rubber spatula, then knead the dough with your hand to create a dough ball. Try not to overwork the dough—it will be similar to a crumbly pie crust in texture. Cover with an overturned plate, and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and toast the almonds for 5 minutes. Cool completely before using. Beat the last egg yolk, and set it aside.
Now, raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Take the dough, and divide it into 18 equal pieces. Roll each into a round ball (or press/squeeze together into a disc), and transfer to a baking sheet so the cookies are placed at least 2 inches apart (they will spread out).
Brush all sides with the beaten egg yolk.
Press one toasted almond onto the center of each dough ball. They may crack a little bit—that’s ok. Just gently squeeze them back together if there are particularly large cracks. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool before transferring to a serving plate or airtight container.
Old-Fashioned Chinese Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (160 g)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (95 g)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch (20 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (4 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (4 g)
- 2 egg yolks (plus 1 additional egg yolk for brushing)
- ½ cup melted lard (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 18 toasted almonds
Instructions
- Sift together 1-1/4 cups (160 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ cup (95 g) powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons (20 g) cornstarch, 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda, and 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Sift the mixture together again to make sure that all the ingredients are light and well-incorporated.
- Next, beat 2 egg yolks into ½ cup melted lard (at room temperature). Beat in 1 teaspoon almond extract. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula, then knead the dough with your hand to create a dough ball. Try not to overwork the dough—it will be similar to a crumbly pie crust in texture. Cover with an overturned plate, and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and toast the almonds for 5 minutes. Cool completely before using. Beat the last egg yolk, and set it aside.
- Now, raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Take the dough, and divide it into 18 equal pieces. Press and squeeze each into a small disc, and transfer to a baking sheet so the cookies are placed at least 2 inches apart (they will spread out).
- Brush all sides with the beaten egg yolk. Press one toasted almond onto the center of each dough ball. They may crack a little bit—that's ok. Just gently squeeze them back together if there are particularly large cracks. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
nutrition facts
HI , is the 1/2 cup lard measured after it is melted or before when solid?
Hi Michelle, the recipe says 1/2 cup melted lard :-)
just made these. gluten free. with ghee instead of lard. with regular sugar instead of powdered…
…and they somehow turned out great!
excellent recipe.
I think the problem some people have with bitterness may be the egg wash burning if you put too much on and it gets on the pan…
Good to know that you can make these cookies using gluten-free flour. Thank you for sharing, Jon.
I made these cookies for the Lunar New Year.
They have a really delicate flavor and taste great. Thank you for this recipe.
I wish you and everybody else all the best for this Lunar New Year.
Thank you so much for your warm wishes :-)
So I followed the recipe to a T but I thought I had failed because the dough was SO crumbly. I threw it away and started over. Same result so I did the best I could to form them in to balls and went for it. After baking, they maintained the cookie shape and tasted fabulous. But somehow I feel like this recipe is missing a bit more liquid. I used the 1/2 cup of melted lard, 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp of extract as the recipe directs. Anyone have any specific suggestions for how to achieve a more workable dough?
Hello Stephanie, I had the same experience. But as Judy said in the “tip”, the dough is like a crumbly pastry dough. So I mixed the dough accordingly and let it rest for 20 minutes (even though it was rather crumbly).
After the 20 minutes the dough was still crumbly so I added a very smlall bit of cold water. That gave me a dough to work with and didn’t effect the crunshiness of the cookies at all.
Good job, Sonja :-)
Thanks so much!
Hi Stephanie, adding a few more drops of melted lard would work well.
Awesome, thank you for the reply!
Sadly this recipe did not work out for me! There was an overwhelming bitter taste. I measured out the baking powder & soda correctly, used gram measurements for everything else too, and the almond extract I added wasn’t expired – I bought a new bottle today. It also wasn’t sweet enough (and I usually reduce sugar in content because I don’t like them too sweet). The raw dough, however, tasted delicious so I’m guessing something went wrong in the baking process – can anyone shed any light on this?
Hi Jessica, we don’t like overly sweet cookies either, so don’t reduce sugar for this recipe. You can also reduce the baking powder and soda by 25%, then try again.
Jessica L, I had the same issue with the cookie not being sweet enough and I could not taste the almond extract, which was fresh and unopened. I also do not like overly sweet baked goods and this kind of tasted like I forgot to add the sugar, but I assure you I measured and added it according to the recipe.
I misunderstood and interpreted melted lard as softened lard so when I ended up mixing it in with my dough the texture was REALLY crumbly. Pressing the almond onto the dough just caused it to fall apart 😂😭. Perhaps that’s also why my cookies didn’t spread and flatten out as much…
They taste good though, so yay! :)
Joyce, I had the same experience today! Great textured cookie, but not sweet and slightly bitter! And just like you, I sifted and weighed and am usually the one to reduce sugar. I guess this recipe isn’t for me. I feel like the baking soda and baking powder flavors overwhelm the intended sweet and almond flavors.
Sorry to hear your disappointment, David, but they taste pretty good when they are made right :-)
Judy, your reply to David Choy sounded…dismissive. Three of us had the same poor results. I thought you might have constructive advice. For example, I am wondering if I should have sifted the flour before measuring. Maybe too much flour overwhelmed the almond extract and the sugar. I am a pretty good baker and can’t remember ever having a problem with a cookie recipe. Any help would be appreciated.
Glad you enjoyed it, Melinda.
Can this be made with gluten free flour?
I have real health issues.
Thanks!
You should be able to, Joyce, especially if you have made other cookie recipes using gluten-free flour. That said, I’ve never tried it.
Can we use vegetable lard like tender flake? Thanks. Love your recipes.
You can, Gemma, but the flavor will not be as ideal.
Where can you even buy lard?
Hi Betsy, you can buy lard from some meat markets, or specialty stores. Amazon has it too. Or you can render lard yourself, it’s so easy.
Can you give the weight of the lard? Hard to determine 1/2 cup when lard is still solid. Thanks!
Hi Gwen, it’s about 100g.
To measure solids, my mom taught me to fill a larger measuring cup than you need with with water to the volume you want. E.g., to use a one cup measure for half a cup of lard, add half of cup of wather to the cup, add the lard until you have one cup total, then pour out the water. This works for non-water soluble pastes like lard, peanut butter, butter, shortening, etc.
Your mother is so, so smart! Thank you for sharing your mother’s teachings :-)
P Poon, brilliant tip! Thank you for sharing.