Almond Brittle Christmas Cookie Recipe
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Cook time: 
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Serves: 36
 
From Richard Sax's Classic Home Desserts
Ingredients
For the Cookie Base:
  • 1 cup salted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 Tablespoons orange or lemon zest
  • 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 2 Tablespoons whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3½ cups flour
For the topping:
  • ½ cup seedless jam (I used apricot, but raspberry would also be nice)
  • 9 Tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • ¼ tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 6 oz. sliced almonds
Instructions
For the cookie base:
  1. Cream the butter and sugar with the salt and zest until the mixture is fluffy.
  2. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla. Add the flour and (mixing at low speed) incorporate into the dough.
  3. Gather the dough into a ball and chill for 2 hours. Let soften slightly before rolling out.
To make the cookies:
  1. Roll out the cookie dough on parchment paper to a roughly 10 inch by 15 inch rectangle. (It's better to have a slightly larger rectangle, and have the edges hang over)/ Transfer the parchment to a ½ sheet pan with edged sides. Chill the rolled dough for about 20 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the edges of the dough to the corners of the sheet pan to make a trim rectangle. Prick all over with a fork, and bake until pale gold, about 16 minutes. Watch the dough in the oven and deflate any bubbles as they rise with a fork. Remove the parbaked cookie, and leave the oven on.
  3. Warm the jam slightly (a few minutes in the microwave will do it) and brush over the cookie smoothly and evenly.
  4. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add the sugar, salt and honey. Cook, stirring, over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the cream, raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil until thickened (about 3 minutes.) Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, lemon juice and almonds.
  5. Pour the almond mixture over the cookie and jam, using a spatula to spread it evenly ove rthe surface.
  6. Bake at 400 degrees about 15 minutes, until the topping is bubbly (check for browning every few minutes - the pan may need to be rotated to get the mixture evenly browned).
  7. Cool the cookies to room temperature in the pan. Using a pizza cutter (best) or sharp knife, cut the cookies into small squares.
Recipe by The Domestic Front at http://www.thedomesticfront.com/almond-brittle-christmas-cookie-recipe/