Alpha Bakers: Almond Coffee Crisps

There is not much to say about these cookies. That is not to mean that there's nothing to say. They are easy and delicious. I could not stop eating them.

This cookie was the first recipe I baked from the book. I am not baking in order, I know. But I really felt like baking the weekend after my book arrived. And I didn't feel like going to the grocery store so I had to make do with what I have in my pantry.

I was prepared though to bake this recipe, somehow, since I went to Whole Foods the week before and remembered to get Medaglia D'Oro espresso powder. I know Rose liked this brand and had checked the book and see that she indeed has recipes that use it. I vividly remembered when we started baking through Rose's Heavenly Cakes in Sep 2009 (yikes!), I could not find Medaglia D'Oro anywhere! So I used Starbucks' Via Ready Brew French Roast. It was a pretty new product back then and I liked the flavor. It was only after a year into baking Rose's Heavenly Cakes (or maybe a year and a half) that I saw Whole Foods started carrying Medaglia D'Oro. I remembered standing there in the isle thinking "finally!!!" and doing a mental happy dance (I don't really need the folks at Whole Foods thinking I'm crazy).

This recipe is on the Quick and Easy Recipe list. And it is really quick and easy. I only had unblanched whole almonds so I tried to sliced them up in half and toast them that way.

I read the recipe twice and still managed to miss the part where Rose said to combine the almonds, flour, instant espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. I combined everything except the flour. It was only when I got to the next section and noticed it mentioning "flour mixture" I stopped, thinking "flour mixture? where is the flour mixture?" I reread the recipe again and that's when I realized what I did wrong. So I mix the flour with the almonds in a bowl by hand. I don't know if this effect the recipe.

Instead of using a large sheet of plastic wrap, I decided to use a zip lock baggie instead. I think it's easier because I won't have any issue with runaway dough. Everything is contained in the bag. It doesn't really look appetizing from the bag picture below by the way.

I followed the instructions on shaping, but my cookies didn't really have smooth edge. It didn't bother me though as they are so good.

By the way, I added a page to my blog that list all the recipes from the book. See it here.

Alpha Bakers is a group of bakers who are baking through The Baking Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum's latest cookbook. Come check out the rest of the group at Rose's Alpha Bakers.