Almond Squares Recipe

How to make it

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• Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolk and almond extract. Beat til fluffy. Add salt and flour and blend until the dough forms a ball.
• Pat out dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan until it (the dough) is about 1/4 inch thick.
• (If everybody likes the brown edges, you can make long rolls and then pat them out so you have long skinny batches. Or press into a 9/13 pan for tidy stand-up edges and a chewier cookie.)
• Stir a few drops of water into the egg white until it is easy to spread. Paint a thin layer over the cookie dough.
• Sprinkle the dough with almonds. (Use your discretion. The more the merrier, but stop before there are more almonds than cookie dough.)
• Gently pat the almonds so they stick to the egg white. Sprinkle with sugar, if you like. (the larger granule kind is fun, but not necessary.)
• Bake at 325 for 25 - 30 minutes. The edges should be golden-brownish. Check the the center and use your magic to determine that it is done. (If you did the long skinny batches, check after about 15-20 minutes.) (The 9 by 13 kind will need to bake longer.)
• Cut the cookies immediately, but let them cool before breaking them apart. These are not sturdy cookies, but the generally don't last long enough for that to matter.
• They go nicely with sorbet or fresh fruit.