Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber
To give a batch of almond shortbread cookies the pastel treatment, dust them with tinted confectioners' sugar. We blended the sugar with finely ground freeze-dried fruits (blueberry, raspberry, and mango) for subtle, all-natural hues.
- Yield
- Makes 40
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, plus 1/2 cup per tinted sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Freeze-dried fruits in various colors, such as blueberries, raspberries, and mangoes
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place toasted almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Add flour, salt, and cinnamon, and process until nuts are finely ground, about 1 minute.
- In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until combined. With mixer on low, gradually add almond mixture and beat until just incorporated.
- Using a 1 1/2‑inch (1‑tablespoon) cookie scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are just golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely.
- For each desired color, place 1/2 cup fruit with 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth and evenly tinted. (Sugars can be stored in airtight containers up to 1 month.) Place tinted sugars in small bowls and dip cookies, domed-side down, into tinted sugars to coat. Transfer to a plate and let rest, about 30 minutes. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.)
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