Almond-Glazed Sugar Cookies

So, I just have to start this post by saying that these are seriously in my top 3 favorite cookies in the world... and I love cookies. They are insanely yummy and just writing this post makes me want to go bake them again RIGHT NOW. This is a recipe that my mother-in-law introduced me to and has turned into one of my most requested baked goods at her house (and she seriously has like a million baked goods recipes). 

I decided to finally try baking them myself and they turned out great! They were fun to make too :) To start, you mix all the ingredients for the cookie dough together and then roll the dough into little 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Then comes the fun part! You grease the bottom of a glass either with butter or by rubbing it into the already mixed cookie dough and then dip it into a bowl of sugar. The sugar should stick to the bottom of the glass as shown in the picture below.

Then you flatten the dough balls until they are about 1/4-inch thick with the sugary glass bottom. Make sure to dip the glass into the sugar after flattening each cookie so that each cookie ends up topped with a thin layer of sugar. I didn't have to grease the glass again after doing it the first time - I think it stays greased from pressing down each cookie, however, if you notice that your glass isn't picking up enough sugar, you can always grease it again. 

After the cookies are all baked and cooled completely, you mix up the almond glaze. This glaze sets up pretty quickly so I recommend mixing it up after all the cookies are finished and ready to top like I did. If you're a little impatient like me, this is difficult ;) Each cookie gets a little dab of glaze, just enough to frost the top of the cookie. Then you go ahead and top each cookie with some sliced almonds - be sure to do this fairly quickly otherwise the glaze will be set up too much for the almonds to stick on. 

And you've got your finished Almond-Glazed Sugar Cookies!

Yum! Don't they look delicious?

And isn't my plate from Home Goods gorgeous? I seriously love it. And it was on clearance! Even better :)

Don't forget to let me know if you make them - I'd love to know what you think! :)

Almond-Glazed Sugar Cookies

Preheat oven to: 400º

Baking time: 7-9 minutes

Yield: around 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Glaze:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

4 to 6 tsp. water

Sliced almonds

Directions: 

Combine butter, sugar and almond extract and beat 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and beat another 1 to 2 minutes. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball to 1/4-inch with greased glass, dipped in sugar. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool 1 minute before removing and then cool cookies completely before glazing. Stir together all glaze ingredients, using a small dab to top each cookie. Place sliced almonds in glaze.  

Enjoy!