I must admit, that I can get heart palpitations from a good cookbook. I was reading an older article somewhere that mentioned a cookbook out of New Zealand called Ladies, A Plate by Alexa Johnston – a cookbook of the very best classics of New Zealand baking. I tracked it down on my favorite used book site, Abebooks.com and was not disappointed. The recipes range from Neenish tarts to Lamingtons. She even has a recipe for one of my favorite cookies – Nanaimo Bars. I adore anything almond flavored so I tried out these Almond Fingers on the Tuesday Night Tennis Ladies – I think they were a success…..Of course, I doubled the recipe and didn’t follow it exactly and they were still amazingly good.
Chewy Almond Fingers
Adapted from Ladies, A Plate by Alexa Johnson
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 2 oz. butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup ground almonds
- 1 egg, separated
- 1/2 t. almond extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 oz almonds
Cooking Directions:
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until it is well incorporated.
- Add the sugar, ground almonds, egg yolk , almond extract and 1-2 t. of cold water and mix until a stiff paste is formed.
- You can chill it for about 10 minutes, or as I did, just roll it out into a 12 x 8 x 1/4 inch rectangle on a pammed piece of parchment paper. Place the whole caboodle on a large baking sheet.
- Beat the egg white until stiff and then gradually beat in the powdered sugar to make a meringue like topping. Spread this on top of the cookie base and sprinkle with the extra almonds.
- Now at this point I baked it for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Then I cut them into fingers after they cooled a little.
- The original recipe calls for cutting them into fingers before baking them, spreading out on the baking sheet and rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking them.
- You choose what you want to do, it will be delicious either way.