Chinese Almond Cookies

These Chinese Almond Cookies are a tasty take on the traditional Chinese take-out cookie that symbolizes good fortune and good luck, especially for the Lunar New Year. 

 

The round cookies represent coins and the almonds on top represent good luck. 

Cantuccini Toscani - Almond Biscotti

These cantuccini Toscani, filled with almonds and flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, are a take on the wonderful crunchy Italian treat. 

Cantuccini (or cantucci for a slightly larger version) is the true name for what we think of as biscotti. All Italian cookies are called biscotti (twice-baked biscuits), but these are the "official" twice-baked cookies that originated in the small town of Prato in Tuscany. 

Blueberry Granola Bars

These blueberry granola bars, filled with toasted oats, unsweetened coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts, will become your favorite chewy and delicious snack. 

These blueberry granola bars are so easy to make and so delicious! They are also nutritious (pretty much) and filling too, the perfect back to school on-the-go breakfast or before football or soccer practice snack.

Ciambella Mandorlata | An Italian Easter Bread

 

Ciambella Mandorlata is an Italian Easter bread that is shaped like a ring and coated with a cinnamon sugar and sliced almond glaze. 

This Ciambella Mandorlata is a wonderful breakfast bread. It's enriched with eggs and butter, and very similar to a sweetened brioche bread.

Apple Tartlets with Almond Crunch

These Apple Tartlets with an Almond Crunch Topping are so elegant, and yet surprisingly easy to make.

These Apple Tartlets, topped with a mixture of sliced almonds, sugar, and butter that caramelizes while the tarts are baking are both sophisticated and delicious.

Fresh Cherry Clafoutis with Almonds

This Fresh Cherry Clafoutis with almonds is a tasty custardy dessert. Clafoutis (pronounced cla-foo-tee) is totally elegant, yet very easy to make. 

Cherry Clafoutis is a traditional French dessert. In fact, the traditional way it is baked is with un-pitted cherries. Evidently the thinking is that the cherry pits impart an almond flavor to the dessert.

Almond-Spice Christmas Wreath Cookies

These Almond-Spice Christmas Wreath Cookies are pretty easy to make, even if they do look fancy.

These almond-spice Christmas wreath cookies would be great to make with kids who are interested in baking. You'd just need to have double the amount of maraschino cherries on hand so they could sneak a few during the decorating phase.

Rondo's | A Dutch Treat

Rondo's are little Dutch treats that are kind of a cross between a pie and a cookie.... and maybe even cake. They are so amazingly tasty. The flavor pretty much blew me away.

The crust part is a cross between a pie crust and shortbread, and totally flakey. It is filled with a lemony almond paste that is mixed with an egg. The rondos are ridiculously tasty. Once I cut into one of them for "quality control," I could not stop eating it.

Caramel Custard Tart with Sliced Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds

This Caramel Custard Tart with Sliced Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds is so completely decadent and rich. It can also be quite the showstopper with its deep caramel color and the toasted nuts and seeds. I used toasted and salted pumpkin seeds in this tart to compliment the sweet caramel, which turned out to be a great choice. 

Apricot, Almond, and Toasted Coconut Muffins

Apricot, almond, and toasted coconut muffins baked in mini muffin pans! They make it so easy to justify having just one more. After all, they are so tiny!!

They are filled with toasted coconut, toasted almonds, and lots of dried apricot bits. They aren't overly sweet either, and are perfect for breakfast. Of course, if you want to be sinful, you can eat them warm (or re-warmed in the oven), slathered with some butter and apricot jam... not that I would do that... ahem.

Apricot, Almond, & Olive Oil Cake with Vanilla and Lemon

This apricot, almond, & olive oil cake is incredibly moist, and the flavors of the apricots, lemon zest, almond flour, and vanilla seeds combine perfectly to create a delicate and tasty cake.

Fudgy No-Butter No-Flour Brownies

These fudgy no-butter no-flour brownies are actually made with almond flour. They are really easy to make. All you need is one bowl.

Tangelo, Date, and Almond Biscotti

These tangelo, date, and almond biscotti are and excellent accompaniment to your morning coffee or afternoon tea. They contain butter, so they are not as rock hard as southern Italian biscotti. Don't worry, they are still nice and crunchy, and will stay fresh for days. They are excellent eaten with our without dunking them in a cup of coffee.

I love the sweetness of the dates combined with the citrus flavor. This is the second time I've made biscotti, and am amazed at how easy they are to make. Homemade biscotti is pretty special.

Impress your friends. All you need is two bowls, a whisk, a spoon and a good serrated knife. No mixer needed.

I made these tangelo, date, and almond biscotti for a virtual baby shower for one of my virtual friends, Tara, of Tara's Multicultural Table!

Her baby was (operative word "was") due in mid March, so Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook thought it would be a fun excuse to make some biscotti and, of course, surprise Tara.

Guess what? Tara's baby came early! You can follow her on Instagram (@taramctable) to see pictures of her amazing food as well as an occasional photo of her cute kids and puppies, Congratulations Tara! 

After the recipe, be sure to check out all of the other wonderful biscotti posts from Tara's friends. 

Tangelo, Date, and Almond Biscotti

Makes 24 biscotti (or you can slice them more thinly to yield more)

Ingredients

270 g (2 cups minus 2 T) all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

100 g (2/3 C) whole almonds

1/4 C (75 g) unsalted butter

1 T finely grated tangelo or orange zest (about one large tangelo/orange)

2 large room temperature eggs

150 g (3/4 C) granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

85 g dried pitted dates, diced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a half sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the almonds and stir. 
4. In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave the butter and zest, until the butter is just melted, about 40 seconds, in 20 second bursts. Stir and let cool, but not harden. 
5. In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk the eggs. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to whisk, until smooth. Slowly whisk in the butter mixture along with the vanilla and almond extract. 
6. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the flour is absorbed into the liquid. Add the dates and mix them into the dough with your hands. 
7. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a 12 inch log. Place each log on the baking sheet, and slightly flatten them into 3 inch wide by 12 inch long mounds. 
8. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and slightly cracked on top. 
9. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a rack for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. 
10. Slice each log on an angle with a serrated knife into 12 pieces. Place them on their sides back onto the parchment. Bake on one side for 7 minutes. Flip them over, and bake on the other side for 7 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. 

More biscotti recipes from Tara's blogger friends:

Biscotti Bites from Nicole at I am a Honey Bee

Cinnamon Biscotti from Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti from Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Dark Chocolate Orange Biscotti from Amy at Amy's Cooking Adventures

Green Tea Biscotti Cookies from Rebekah at Making Miracles

Jam-Filled Mandelbrot from Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Maple Walnut Biscotti from Sally at Bewitching Kitchen

Parmesan-Peppercorn Biscotti from Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Amaretto Tricolor Cookies

These Amaretto tricolor cookies are also known as Neapolitan cookies, as well as Italian rainbow cookies. The layers are held together with Amaretto spiked apricot jam. 

Typically, they are made in the colors of the flag of Italy; red, white, and green; and they are an Italian American tradition.

Granola Energy Bars

Granola Energy Bars filled with toasted oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut, and a mixture of dried fruit. 

Granola energy bars. From my kitchen. With brown rice syrup. Something is completely askew in the universe.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Apricots

Welcome to Day #2 of Appetizer Week, a multi-blogger event co-hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic. With the big football game coming up, we wanted to make sure you had plenty of ideas for your game day spread. Each day we will be dishing up a different set of appetizers. We hope you enjoy this fabulous group of recipes. Tune in each day starting with Monday, January 20 and ending on Saturday, January 25.

These bacon wrapped stuffed apricots are filled with Havarti cheese and almonds. The sweetness of the apricots combined with the mild melty cheese and the crunchy almonds go beautifully with the bacon (it's a cliché, but what doesn't go well with bacon?).

These are perfect little appetizers for a party, and are so easy to make. Havarti cheese is very creamy and mild, and melts perfectly inside the apricots.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Apricots

Ingredients

24 dried apricots

3 oz Havarti cheese, sliced 1/4 inch thick and then cut into 1/2 inch squares

24 almonds

12 strips of bacon, cut in half across the middle

24 toothpicks (soak in water)

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Set a rack about 6 inches below your broiler.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.
3. Slit open the apricots and place a piece of cheese and an almond inside.
4. Wrap with a slice of bacon with a 1/2 inch overlap (trim off excess).
5. Secure with a toothpick and sprinkle with black pepper. 
6. Broil the appetizers, turning often with tongs to crisp the bacon all over. 
7. If there is too much grease, you can move the appetizers to a second foil lined pan and continue to broil. The whole broiling process should take about 10 minutes or less. 
8. Serve immediately.

Adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking Appetizers, Fall, 2011

Visit all the other Appetizer Week Peeps for more Munchie Causing Goodness:

• Caramelized Onion, Brie, and Pear Crostini by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Easy Low-Carb Chicken Dip by Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Tuna Bruschetta by What's Cooking, Love?
• Harvest Sweet Potato Salsa by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Mini Cheeseburgers by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Buffalo Chicken Tortilla Pinwheels by Home Cooking Memories
• Easy Cheesy Mexican Dip by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• French Onion Grilled Cheese Stackers by Mom's Test Kitchen

Danish Braid with Apricot and Confectioner's Cream Filling | TWD

Seriously easy-to-make apricot and confectioner's cream Danish pastry. The pastry itself has the richness of laminated dough without all of the work, and the fillings are made in a microwave. Even better, you can make the dough and fillings a couple of days in advance and keep them in the refrigerator.

This bread was rich, buttery, and flakey and filled with the tartness of apricots and the sweetness of confectioner's cream.

Based on the easiness of preparing the ingredients and the tastiness of the finished product, I will be making this one again and again.

While this bread is called a braid, the look is created by cutting the rolled out dough and crossing strips of it over each other. Easy.

This recipe comes from Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers by Dorie Greenspan. 

Danish Braid with Apricot and Confectioner's Cream Filling

Danish Pastry

Ingredients

1/8 C water

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)

1/4 C room temperature milk

1/2 large egg, room temperature (How much is half and egg? Whisk the egg and then put it into a measuring cup. Use half.)

1/8 C sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 C unbleached all purpose flour 

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Instructions

1. Whisk the water, yeast, milk, egg, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Put the flour into the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade. Add the butter and pulse 8 to 10 times, until the butter is cut into 1/2 inch pieces. 
3. Add the flour and butter mixture to the yeast mixture, and stir gently with a dough scraper or rubber spatula until just combined. 
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight and up to 4 days. 
5. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, dust it with flour, and pat it into a square. Roll it into an 8 inch square. 
6. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. 
7. Roll it and fold it again two more times, wrap it with plastic wrap, and chill it for 30 minutes to 2 days. 

Confectioner's Cream

Ingredients

1 C heavy cream

1 1/2 T cornstarch

2 T sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Using a 1 quart glass measuring cup, whisk the cream, cornstarch, and sugar together. 
2. Microwave the ingredients for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes more, one minute at a time until it boils and slightly thickens. 
3. Mix the egg yolk and vanilla. Add a bit of the hot cream to temper the egg, and then add the egg to the cream mixture. Whisk very well, and then microwave for another 30 seconds. Whisk again. The cream should be thickened. 
4. Cover the top of the cream with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. 
5. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Apricot Filling

Ingredients

1 C dried apricots

1 C water

1 C sugar

2 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions

1. In a 1 quart glass measuring cup, stir the apricots, water, and sugar together. 
2. Microwave for about 10 minutes, stirring about every 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Place the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.
4. Add the lemon juice and extract and pulse.
5. Scrape the ingredients into a small container, cool, and refrigerate for up to a week.

To assemble the bread:

Ingredients

All of the pastry dough

Apricot filling

Confectioner's Cream filling

One egg white, whisked

Pearl or sparkling sugar

Sliced almonds

Instructions

1. On a piece of parchment, roll the dough into a 10 by 14 inch rectangle.
2. Mark the dough with a knife or dough scraper lengthwise to divide it into thirds. Don't cut all of the way through. 
3. Place a layer of the apricot filling down the center. You won't use all of the filling. 
4. Place a layer of the Confectioner's Cream on top of the apricot filling. Again, you will have leftover filling.
5. Using a knife, cut each outside third of the dough on a slant to create about 14 strips. 
6. Fold them alternatively over each other, brush with the egg white, sprinkle with the sugar, and add the almonds.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
8. Let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes, remove the plastic wrap, and bake the pastry for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. 
9. Cool on a rack. 

What is TWD? Tuesdays with Dorie! Check out the TWD website for more variations on this recipe. 

Chocolate Covered Cherry Almond Tarts

These little chocolate covered cherry almond tarts are comprised of a flaky crust and a creamy almond filling topped with fresh cherries that are coated with a chocolate ganache.

Flaky crust... Almond pastry cream... Fresh cherries...  Chocolate ganache.... All baked into two 4 1/2 inch tartelette pans.  The combination of flavors works beautifully and makes a wonderful summer dessert for two... or four if you don't mind sacrificing the style factor and serving them cut in half. You could always add a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Summer!

While the tart is inspired by chocolate covered cherries, in this tart, the cherries are fresh and not coated with a sugary syrup.

For the crust, I used some leftover dough I had in the freezer. The recipe for the dough is the same as the one from this apple tart. Any recipe for your favorite pie crust will do. Just make enough for a crust bottom. I love this one because it is amazingly tender and flaky. It's my favorite crust recipe.

Recommended tools/equipment for these tarts: 

1. Two 4 1/2 inch to 4 3/4 inch tartelette pans with removable bottoms. If you're good at geometry, you could substitute one or three different sized pans. 
2. A food processor, ideally a mini food processor.You'll need this to mix up the almond cream filling. 
3. A cherry pitter. You can make this dessert without one.. and who needs another single use kitchen gadget? In this case, me. I love my little cherry pitter, even if it's single use. It doesn't hurt that one of my grandkids is a cherry lover and helps me pit the cherries with this gadget. I can't seem to find the one that I use available on line, but I'm sure that the multiple ones that are available are all good. Just check the reviews.