I adore spring. It’s not just the warmer weather I find appealing, but the gentle rousing of nature as it begins to wake up and once again come back to life.
Here in Charlotte it begins with the Bradford Pears. You get up one morning and walk through your neighborhood to notice that suddenly, as if on cue, the trees have the most beautiful white flowers budding from their branches. This in itself is a glorious site, but then it gets better. A handful of days later you walk down that same street, but now the leaves are pushing their way past the flowers causing a gentle rain of petals that my kids liken to a “first of the season” snowfall.
The Bradford Pears are followed closely by the Azeleas sporting vivid shades of pink, red and white. When you glance at their flowers, the colors can seem so bright that you question for a split second whether they’re truly real.
Of course, the best part of all is that when nature wakes up, so do we. Warmer weather and greener surroundings are good for the soul. We can step back outside and breath again. It’s that simple.
To celebrate spring, I baked up an easy yet tasty cookie that contains one of my favorite flavors: almond. The recipe calls for almond flour but you can sub regular if needed.
Start out by creaming together some butter and sugar. Follow that with a couple of eggs, a splash of almond extract and the zest and juice of a fresh lemon. Add in some flour, almond flour, salt and baking powder. Voila; dough.
Spoon the dough out onto a greased cookie sheet and, if desired, add a couple slivered almonds to the top.
Bake for 8-10 minutes and let cool.
That’s all there is to it. Simply simple. Enjoy!
- 11/2 Sticks Softened Unsalted Butter
- 11/2 Cups Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 11/2 tsp Almond Extract
- 1 Medium Size Lemon's worth Zest and Juice
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 11/2 Cups Flour
- ¾ Cup Almond Flour*
- Slivered Almonds (Optional)
- Cream together the softened butter and sugar.
- Add in the eggs, almond extract, lemon zest and juice. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients: baking soda, salt, flour and almond flour. Mix until combined.
- Spoon out tablespoon sized balls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet.
- If desired, top each ball of dough with a couple slivered almonds.
- Place in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until you begin to see light browning around the edges of the cookies.
- Let cool completely and enjoy.
Simply simple indeed! I subbed with almond flour, vegan butter and coconut sugar. It turned out fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
Well first I think that you should reduce the butter because our cookies turned out to be super oily and also reduce the sugar in my opinion because I’m not a fan of sugar but in general it’s not bad at least.