Almond Butter Tuiles

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the almonds in a pie plate and bake for about 5 minutes, or until toasted. Let cool, then coarsely crumble the nuts with your fingers.

Butter 2 large heavy cookie sheets. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites with the sugar and almonds just until combined. Stir in the butter and vanilla, then stir in the flour.

Drop rounded tablespoons of the batter onto the cookie sheets, about 3 1/2 inches apart. Using the back of the spoon, spread the batter evenly into 3-inch rounds. Bake for about 13 minutes, or until golden. Using a metal spatula, quickly transfer the cookies to a rack or drape them over rolling pins or glasses until cool. Repeat with the remaining cookie batter.

A tuile is a thin, crisp cookie that is usually shaped by placing it over rounded objects, like a rolling pin, while still hot from the oven. Pastry chefs often use tuiles as a garnish and to make small cups for custards or ice creams. To create fancifully shaped tuiles, like stars and hearts, use professional tuile stencils, available at Chef Rubber. You place a stencil on a baking sheet, spread the batter with an offset spatula so it falls inside the cutouts and remove the stencil before baking. To make cups for fillings, place the tuiles over the bottom cups of a muffin tin right after they come out of the oven. You must move quickly, because tuiles become brittle as they cool.