Almond Shortbread Cookies with Icing Recipe | Baked with My Favorite Homemade Frangipane
Buttery almond shortbread cookies baked with my favorite homemade frangipane (easy-to-make almond cream filling). These shortbread cookies are best if you slightly underbake them, which will give you will the perfect texture and flavor from both the shortbread and frangipane once they set. An easy-to-follow recipe, made with pantry and fridge-friendly ingredients like almond flour, sugar, butter, flour, and sliced almonds.
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Electric Mixer or Whisk
- Rolling Pin
- Plastic wrap
- 2.5-inch round cookie cutter
- 1.5-inch cookie scoop
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
Shortbread cookie dough
- 1 cup softened butter
- 3/4 cup superfine white sugar caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Almond frangipane
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced almonds
Simple Vanilla icing (optional but recommended)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Shortbread Cookie Instructions:
- Prep: Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together: In a mixing bowl, add 1 cup softened butter, 3/4 cup superfine white sugar caster sugar, cream together until light and fluffy. Add 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined to avoid overworking the dough.
- Roll out the dough & Chill: Once the shortbread dough is ready, place between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out into an oval or circle a 1/3" thick. For the best texture and flavor, I highly recommend pulling out a ruler and making sure the dough is the right thickness. This will also help us with the bake times later on. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 15 – 30 minutes while working on the frangipane.
Almond Frangipane:
- Cream Together: To a medium bowl add 1 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix with an electric mixer or whisk until creamy. Add 1 room temperature egg and mix again until well combined.
- Add flour: Once the mixture is creamy, add 1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour mix again until fully combined. Cover with plastic and refrigerate while you cut out the dough.
Assemble and Bake:
- Preheat: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Cut: Take the sheet of dough out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and parchment paper. Use a 2.5” round circle cookie cutter or cup to form the cookies. This will make about 10 shortbread cookies. You can regather the excess dough to create additional cookies, just be sure it is 1/3" thick when you roll it back out so that it bakes well with the others.
- Assemble: Place all of the cookie cutouts on the parchment-lined cookie sheet spaced about 1-2 inches apart. Using a 1.5" cookie scoop, add a dollop of frangipane in the center each cookie dough cutout. Top each frangipane scoop with thinly sliced almonds to form a shell. Take extra care here to truly form a tight shell, ensuring the frangipane is fully covered by almonds. But be careful not to flatten the frangipane. We want it to stay a dome in the center of the cookie dough.
- Bake: Place the prepared pan in the oven and bake at 350°F for 14 minutes. When the shortbread is baked it will still be lightly colored but no longer shiny. As oven temperatures can vary, check on them at the 12 minute mark to prevent burning.Once the cookies are out of the oven, transfer the parchment paper with all the cookies on it immediately to a cooling rack. It's best not to touch the cookies by hand, as they're still hot enough to change shape. If you don't have a cooling rack, simply transfer the parchment paper with all cookies on it onto a room temperature surface. Removing the cookies from the pan will ensure they don’t ovebake while sitting on the hot pan.
Icing:
- Stir together: In a small bowl add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, stir until fully combined and creamy.
- Decorate: Use a fork or spoon to drizzle lines of the vanilla icing over the cookies. While optional, this step is highly recommended as it enhances the texture of the cookies and enriches the flavor.
Notes
The size measurements are important in this recipe. If you tweak the size of the cookies or frangipane, bake times may differ too. It’s best to use a ruler to make sure your cookie cutter, dough, and cookie scoop are all the same measurements as noted in this recipe.
As oven temperatures differ, it’s best to check on the cookies before the 14-minute mark to prevent overbaking.
While the icing is optional I highly recommend adding it!
