Spice Cookies: Place the corn syrup, sugar, and
butter in a medium large saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring
to a boil, stirring constantly. Let the mixture boil for about 2 minutes,
then remove from heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
Meanwhile preheat
your
oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Toast the almonds for about 6-8 minutes, or until the nuts are lightly
browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl whisk the flour
with the baking soda,
ground spices, salt and pepper, and lemon zest.
Remove about 2
tablespoons of toasted almonds and chop
them into small pieces. Set aside to use as
garnish for the cookies.
Place the remainder of
the almonds in your food processor, fitted with a metal blade. Add about 1/4
cup of the flour mixture and process until
finely ground. Add
the finely ground nut mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to combine.
When the corn syrup
mixture is lukewarm, stir in the vanilla extract and almond extract. 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
your 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 (3 mm). Use a
2 1/2
inch (6 cm) round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
Transfer cookies to the baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, and sprinkle with
some chopped
almonds.
Bake for 7
to 10 minutes or until lightly colored
and beginning to brown around the edges. Cool cookies on wire racks and then
store in an airtight container.
Makes about 30 cookies.
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