Almond Butter Cookies

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the almond-coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum; set aside.

3. Place almonds in a food processor, cover and process until finely ground. Add butter and process until smooth. Add the granulated and confectioner’s sugar, process until creamed.

4. Transfer cream mixture to a bowl. Add the eggs and the almond extract; blend well. Add the flour mixture and process until just blended. Throughout the mixing process be sure to stop frequently and scrape down the sides of the food process with a rubber spatula.

5. Shape 1 tablespoon of dough into 3/4-inch balls. Roll in the almonds or sugar to coat. Place balls 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet; flatten slightly.

6. Bake cookies until bottoms are lightly golden brown, approximately 10 minutes, switching pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking.

7. Cool briefly then transfer cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Note: If you want uniform, creamy-ivory cookies, use blanched almond meal; if you don’t mind the appearance on the ground almond skins you can use whole almonds. 1 cup of almond meal can also be substituted for the whole almonds; instead of using the food processor in step 3, cream the butter, almond meal, and sugar in a bowl, then follow the recipe as written.