These almond cookies are firm on the outside, a little crispy even, and dense and chewy in the centers--like marzipan! In other words, the cookies are incredibly good. The cookies contain no wheat flour, only almond flour, so they're great if gluten is a problem for you. The cookies are sweet but not cloyingly so. A bit of lemon zest gives the cookies extra zing and counters the sweetness. Try the cookies with your afternoon tea or coffee. The cookies are easy to make and mix up in minutes. I like to bake part of the dough at once and refrigerate part for later in the week, which works fine. In fact, I believe the flavor and texture of the cookies improves after the dough has been refrigerated for a week or so. I like the cookies plain, but you can decorate them by placing an almond in the center of each bit of dough before baking and/or dusting the cookies with confectioners' sugar after they're baked. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Chewy Almond Cookies -- Makes 12+
3 cups of almond flour or ground almonds
1 cup of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
Grated zest of a lemon
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
3 egg whites from large eggs
1-2 tablespoons of water (depending on how dry your almond flour is)
In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients until well combined and the dough clings together. Cut pieces of baking parchment to fit your air fryer basket. Roll 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoon portions of dough into balls and place the dough balls on the parchment paper--3 or 4 on each piece of parchment and spacing the balls at least an inch apart. Slightly flatten the dough balls with your fingers so that they are about an inch thick (and to prevent the balls from rolling). Put a piece of dough-covered parchment in your air fryer basket, set the air fryer temperature to 300 degrees and bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or until just firm and a light golden brown. Repeat the cooking process with the remainder of the dough or refrigerate some of the dough, well wrapped in plastic, for later.
