Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple loves baking a few batches of these cookies to decorate over the holidays. They look like classic sugar cookies, but taste nutty and citrusy thanks to almond meal and lime zest. You could substitute Meyer lemon or orange for the lime, or use a mix of all three for a deliciously citrusy cookie. Slideshow: More Almond Cookie Recipes
How to Make It
In a medium bowl, whisk the 2 cups of flour with the almond meal and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the butter with the granulated sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add the vanilla and lime zest and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until smooth. Pat the dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350° and line 4 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Working in batches if necessary, on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using a 2-inch round cutter, stamp out cookies as close together as possible. Reroll the scraps and stamp out more cookies. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate the cookies until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
Bake the cookies in two batches in the upper and middle thirds of the oven for 17 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned around the edges and just firm; shift the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let cool on the baking sheets.