Crisp Almond Horns (Gluten Free)

 

I love almonds.   I also love macamia, cashews and pistachios, oh and pecans and walnuts. Ohh, and honey roasted peanuts! Well . . .  I guess I just love all nuts, but almonds are at the top of the list!

 

I saw a recipe for Almond Horns on Pinterest and had to check it out.  They looked fabulously tasty and chock full of almonds.  The recipe was on Kitchen Bowl.

 

They looked incredibly tasty and easy to make.  Based on a German Cookie called Mandelhörnchen, Almond Horns are filled with almonds and naturally gluten free.

 

The dough for the cookies is composed of almond paste/marzipan, ground almonds (almond meal), almond essence, sugar and egg white.

 

Beaten together these make a somewhat sticky dough, that you roll into logs and then into even more almonds.  Shaped into crescents, they are then baked until golden brown.

 

The end result is a moreish cookie, golden and crisp on the edges and yet deliciously chewy centred!

 

The dough was very sticky and difficult to shape.  Upon researching I discovered several other recipes which required refrigerating it prior to shaping, so I highly recommend doing that.

 

Mine still turned out to be beautiful biscuits, if somewhat flatter than some of the ones I have seen.  I also saw some which were dipped into chocolate.  

I think I prefer them this way, but if you want to dip the ends of your horns into melted chocolate feel free!  I can promise you that they are incredibly moreish either way!

 

*Almond Horns*

Makes 16

Printable Recipe  

Crisp on the outside and chewy middled, chock full of almond flavor cookies that are easy to make and gluten free.  These are gorgeous. 

1/2 pound Almond paste (8 ounces)

45g finely ground almonds (1/2 cup almond meal)

95g sugar (1/2 cup)

1 egg white

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

255g flaked almonds (1 1/2 cups)

Icing sugar to dust

 

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.  Set aside. 

Crumble the almond paste into a bowl.  Add the sugar, egg white, ground almonds and almond extract.  Using a hand mixture beat until well combined. The mixture will be fairly sticky.  

Spread the flaked almonds in a shallow dish or plate.  Drop 1 1/2 TBS of the dough into the dish of flaked almonds and shape into a rough log rolling the mixture in the nuts. 

 

Place onto the baking sheet.  Repeat until the almond dough is all used up, leaving a fair space for spreading in between the shapes.  Try to give them a curved shape.  

Bake in the preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes until light golden brown.  Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 25 minutes.  Dust with the Icing sugar.

 

So there you have it . . .  crispy edged, chewy middled, chock full of nuts and not at all uncomfortable with a hot drink!  Bon weekend!