hello from korea, friends!!!!!!!! the last few days have been totally bonkers as the olympic channel has made every single one of my dreams come true and brought me over to pyeongchang to help cover the olympics. i am freaking out, it is still soaking in, and i have no idea what time it is where you are, but for now i have to dash over to gangnueng to watch nathan chen's short program, so i will tell you more about this later! follow along on instagram!

i really need to quickly tell you about these valentine's day cookies though because they are our new favorite cookies hands down. they are so freaking soft and thick and almondy, and i realize that i should just admit that this is an almond flavored blog already (yes, the annual almond cake is coming soon!!) but i know as soon as i do that i'm going to start hating almond. (haha, never!) but if you do hate almond, rest assured, this is actually about to become an ice skating blog this week.

i like these cookies because you can cut out thick shapes with them and you don't have to worry about refrigerating the dough (you can if you want) so these come together extremely quickly. the trick to getting the best texture is to take them out of the oven when they are just starting to think about turning brown but haven't yet. or maybe they have around the bottom edges but that's it. they will be too soft to handle immediately out of the oven but as they cool they'll firm up just slightly and achieve that perfect softness that's lofthouse-esque but way denser.

the thing i'm still working on is the decorating part. when i pipe freehand glaze lines i feel really clumsy! and i'm trying to figure out how to get the outlines of the glaze to zhoosh into the rest of the glaze better. michelle says to use a toothpick to help blend it. i tried it for two cookies and then got impatient! oh well, the good thing is that clumsy lines and poorly zhooshed glaze still taste really good but if you have ideas for how to make the outlines blend in better, please @ me.

soft almond sugar cookie cutouts

makes about 22 large (3" ish) cookies or 30 smaller (2" ish) ones

ingredients

For the cookies:

3 1/2 c (448g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 1/3 c (150g) almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 c (226g) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 c (137g) granulated sugar

2/3 c (80g) powdered sugar

zest from 1/2 of a lemon, optional

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp princess emulsion (or another tsp vanilla)

3/4 tsp almond extract

for the glaze:

2 cups (240g) powdered sugar
2 tb (40g) corn syrup
2-3 tb whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
Pinch of kosher salt
Food coloring

Sprinkles!
 

clues

To make the cookies, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the lemon zest if using and mix to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each, and then add the extracts.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until blended. At this point you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or up to two days, or you can get going on rolling out your dough and cutting out your cookies immediately. 

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºf. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat and set aside. Working with half of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2” thick. Cut out your shapes and then transfer to a baking sheet, 1" apart. Re-roll scraps and cut out more shapes. Bake until they’re just thinking about starting to turn brown, begin checking larger cookies for doneness at 12 minutes, and smaller cookies at 10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, corn syrup, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, almond extract, salt, and a few drops of food coloring until smooth. It should be very thick but just thin enough that when you lift up your spoon it falls off in smooth ribbons. If it’s too thick, add a couple more drops of milk, and if it’s too thin, add a few more spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Spoon a couple of spoonfuls into a piping bag and snip off 1/4" tip. Pipe around the borders of your cookies to make an outline. Thin the remaining glaze out with another teaspoon or so of milk, until it's easily spreadable. Fill in the outlines with the thinner glaze and top with sprinkles immediately before the glaze dries.

Let dry and enjoy!! 

These will keep at room temperature for a good few days, but you can also freeze them once the glaze is dry and they'll stay fresher longer!
 

-yeh!