Lumps of Brown Ugliness But Oh So Tasty!

Not having white sugar in the house shall not deter me from further cookie making. Oh no, for when I want cookies in East Farnham, a place so desolate as to be without any bakeries, I must bake my own cookies. What came out of the oven looked more like lumps of brown ugliness than cookies, but boy were they delicious. The toasted ground almonds smelled wonderful and reminded me of Chinese fried sesame balls filled with coconut shreds and crushed peanuts.

CRUMBLY ALMOND COOKIES
(makes about 12 small cookies)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 heaping tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup coarsely ground toasted almond
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar

Beat butter and vanilla until soft and creamy. In a separate bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and ground ginger. Mix flour mixture a little at a time into butter, mixing after each time. Pour in ground almond and work into dough.

Chill dough in the fridge. In the meantime, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a shallow bowl or plate, crumble brown sugar and cinnamon together until well blended.

When the oven is ready, take dough out of the fridge. Pinch off a golf ball size piece and roll between palms to form a ball. Roll the piece of dough around in the plate with the sugar and cinnamon. Repeat until you run out of dough. Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 17 minutes. The sugar on the bottom of the cookies will caramelize and harden. YUMMY!