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Place the corn syrup, sugar, and
butter in a large saucepan (6 cup capacity). Place over medium heat and bring
to a boil, stirring frequently. Let the mixture boil for about 2 minutes,
then remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile preheat the
oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the rack in the middle of the
oven. Toast the almonds for about 8-10 minutes, or until the nuts are lightly
colored and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
In a medium
sized bowl sift, or whisk, the flour, baking soda, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper
Set aside.
Remove about 20 of the toasted almonds and chop
them into small pieces. Set aside to use as
garnish for the cookies.
Place the remainder of
the almonds in a food processor, fitted with a metal blade. Add about 1/4
cup of the sifted dry ingredients and process for about 30 seconds or until
finely ground. Place the
finely ground nut mixture and dry ingredients in a
large bowl and stir to combine.
When the corn syrup
cools to tepid, stir in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and lemon rind. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Divide the
dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour or until the
dough is firm
enough to roll out.
Preheat oven to 375
degrees F (190 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a
lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of l/8 inch. Use a 3
inch (8 cm) round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
Transfer cookies to the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart, and sprinkle with chopped
almonds.
Bake for 8
to 10 minutes or until lightly colored. Do not over bake or they will be
too hard. Cool cookies on wire racks and then
store in an airtight container.
Makes about 36 cookies.
Adapted from Maida
Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies
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