Comments on: 12 Days of Cookies: #10 Orange-Almond Buttons!

By: Holly

Holly — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:30:47 +0000

I’m not much of a cook, but needed a few kinds of cookies to share with friends. These came out beautifully and delighted everyone who tried them. I gave some for an inflight snack to a friend headed home to Japan to see family for the holidays. She loved them so much that she saved the rest for her family to taste. Thanks for making these subtly delicious cookies accessible to those of us without advanced cooking skills.

By: Claire

Claire — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:46:54 +0000

What a great recipe! I made these to bring to a party, but ended up not being able to go because of the weather. So, more cookies for me! Thanks for sharing it with us. And you’re right: They do taste like Fruit Loops!

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:52:12 +0000

Hi Kristin, When you beat the egg whites, make sure that the bowl and mixer are very clean and dry. Make sure no egg yolk sneaks into the whites. Also, make sure you are beating them long enough—the egg whites should hold stiff peaks before you attempt to fold them into the flour mixture. I am sure they’ll be perfect next time! Glad to hear you liked the flavor…

By: Kristin Konsterlie

Kristin Konsterlie — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:44:39 +0000

I had just a bit of trouble with holding the integrity of the beaten egg whites – any tips for me? When I piped them through they softened greatly – almost flat. They baked up okay and folks love them (me, too!), but I’m wanting my next batch to be better. thx much!

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:47:51 +0000

Great! Salt seems like a great idea. Glad they worked out.

By: tinarina

tinarina — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:33:06 +0000

Thanks Tim! Sometimes I over-think things so went ahead and made the cookies (with large eggs!) before seeing your answer and they are really delicious. I had some leftover slivered almonds that I used for the tops rather than sliced, which are probably less pretty but no less tasty. Also, before I dusted on the powdered sugar, my bowl of coarse sea salt was speaking to me so I added a pinch on top of each cookie and then did the sugar. I highly recommend it!

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:54:37 +0000

you’ll be fine with large eggs, no problem!

By: tinarina

tinarina — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:55:23 +0000

I’m so happy I discovered your site and this recipe looks terrific–I definitely need a break from the obscene amount of butter required for most cookies.

One question–how essential are extra-large eggs? I plan to make these with large eggs and maybe just reduce the other ingredients by a little bit.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:49:17 +0000

Great, Melanie! I am so glad you liked them.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:48:02 +0000

I just made these, and they are fantastic. A nice light departure from the normal heavy holiday cookies. The made the whole house smell like oranges!! Yummy :)

By: Dawn in CA

Dawn in CA — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:49:27 +0000

The flavors of citrus and almond (often together) are very traditional in a lot of Italian cookie recipes… at least if my grandmother’s cookies are any indication. I was just writing about her Christmas cookies this morning, but alas, haven’t finished the post yet! ;) In her cookies, the orange flavor was definitely present, but not so pronounced that you’d think “fruit loops.” That said, these look really good. Best Friday Ever, huh? Now that’s something to look forward to.

By: chika

chika — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:32:21 +0000

Hi Tim – been enjoying this festive feature hugely, and while everything here looks tempting, these look and sound particularly inviting… i love orange and orange-flavored treats, too! texturewise, are they a bit like macaroons? reckon i have to give them a try to find it out myself! thanks for putting together the fantastic holiday cookie list!

By: The Duo Dishes

The Duo Dishes — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:22:08 +0000

These look perfect. Just may give them a try for a cookie exchange party!

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:17:37 +0000

Yeah, give it a try! Should work fine. Texture might be a little different, but still lovely.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:16:28 +0000

These look fabulous! I’d love to make these with almond meal that I already have in my cupboard (hooray Trader Joe’s!). I can use the same weight of almond meal, right?

By: molly

molly — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:16:09 +0000

I make a similar version with lemon every year from Claudia Fleming’s Last Course, and they are fabulous, and they DO taste like Fruit Loops! Only much, much, much better (I loathe fruit loops, but love these). Try them sandwiched together with a citrus buttercream — I beat a 1/2 cup of lemon curd into a batch of basic powdered sugar + butter. SO good. *Molly

By: Heather @ chik n pastry

Heather @ chik n pastry — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:26:17 +0000

I will have to agree with you – these might be my favorites – so far! Well,,, maybe second after the mexican chocolate cookies. the fruit loop comment didn’t hurt either – i used to eat those just to drink the fruity milk afterwards…. yuuuummm.

hmmm…i wonder who’s tomorrow? I have a good guess based on the caliber of guests you’ve had so far. We’ll see if i’m right!