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Almond cookies are the buttery, nutty, melt-in-your-mouth treat that tastes like it came from a fancy bakery, except you made them in one bowl with zero chilling. I baked a batch with Maddie on a rainy afternoon and we may have eaten half the tray straight off the cooling rack, no regrets. If you love an easy scoop-and-bake cookie like our cinnamon sugar cream cheese cookies, these almond cookies are about to become your new go-to.
The secret is grinding your own sliced almonds, which gives these a deeper, toastier flavor than any store-bought almond cookie.
Almond Cookies Quick Look
- 🕐 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🍴 Cook Time: 14 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 24 minutes
- 🍽 Serving: 24 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 214kcal
- 🌶 Flavor Profile: Buttery, sweet, and nutty with a tender almond crumb
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our soft oatmeal raisin cookies
Quick Answer
Grind sliced almonds into a fine meal, then whisk them with flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cream softened butter with granulated sugar, then beat in eggs and vanilla until light. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until a soft dough forms. Scoop tablespoon portions onto parchment lined sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Grinding your own almonds. Processing sliced almonds into a fresh meal gives a deeper, toastier almond flavor and a tender, sandy texture that store-bought almond flour cannot quite match.
- Brown sugar plus granulated. The brown sugar adds moisture and a soft chew while the granulated sugar helps the edges crisp, giving you the best of both textures in one cookie.
- Creaming the butter properly. Whipping the butter and sugar until light beats in air, which is what gives the cookies their tender, melt-in-your-mouth lift.
- No chilling required. Because the dough holds its shape from the ground almonds and the butter ratio, you can scoop and bake immediately, no waiting around.
- A short bake at 350. Twelve to fourteen minutes sets the edges while leaving the centers soft, so the cookies firm up to the perfect texture as they cool.
- Cooling on the tray first. Letting them rest 5 minutes on the hot tray finishes the bake gently, so the delicate cookies do not crumble when you move them.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy enough for any baker. No chilling, no rolling, no fuss, just scoop and bake. These come together faster than you can preheat and clean up.
- That bakery almond flavor. Freshly ground almonds give these the nutty, buttery taste of a fancy bakery cookie for a fraction of the cost.
- Crowd-pleasing and giftable. Makes two dozen, stores well, and looks gorgeous on a cookie tray next to our crispy peanut butter cookies.
Key Ingredients
A short list of baking staples is all you need for these almond cookies. Quantities are in the recipe card below; here is why each one matters.
- Sliced almonds. Ground fresh in the food processor for the deepest almond flavor and a tender, sandy crumb. Sliced almonds grind more evenly than whole.
- Butter. Unsalted, softened, and creamed until light. It carries the rich flavor and gives the cookies their melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Brown and granulated sugar. Brown sugar brings moisture and chew, granulated sugar crisps the edges. Together they balance soft and crisp.
- All-purpose flour. The structure of the cookie. Spoon and level it so the dough is not dry or dense.
- Eggs and vanilla. The eggs bind and enrich the dough, while vanilla rounds out the nutty almond flavor.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These almond cookies are an easy base to riff on.
- Boost the almond. Add a half teaspoon of almond extract with the vanilla for an even more pronounced almond flavor.
- Add a topping. Press a whole almond into each cookie before baking, or drizzle melted chocolate over the cooled cookies.
- Mix in chips or fruit. Fold in white chocolate chips or dried cherries for a flavor twist.
- Use almond flour. Skip the food processor and use store-bought almond flour for the ground almonds in a pinch.
- Try a citrus version. A little lemon or orange zest brightens these up, the same trick that makes our meltaway lemon cookies so refreshing.
How to Make Almond Cookies
- Grind the sliced almonds in a food processor until fine, then stir together the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Whip the butter with the granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla until creamy, then mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon portions of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them apart.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes, cool on the tray 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Grind the almonds fine. A fine, even meal gives the best texture; large chunks make the cookies crumbly.
- Soften the butter properly. Room-temperature butter creams light and fluffy; cold butter will not aerate and melted butter makes flat cookies.
- Do not overmix the dough. Mix just until the flour disappears to keep the cookies tender.
- Use a cookie scoop. A 1 tablespoon scoop gives evenly sized cookies that bake at the same rate.
- Watch the edges. Pull the cookies when the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look soft; they firm up as they cool.
- Let them rest on the tray. Five minutes on the hot pan before moving keeps these delicate cookies from breaking, the same gentle handling our cream cheese cookies need.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These almond cookies are made for a tall glass of cold milk, plain and simple. Add them to a holiday cookie tray next to our soft oatmeal raisin cookies and strawberry shortcake cookies for a spread that covers every craving. They are also lovely alongside an afternoon coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an easy dessert.
For gifting, stack them in a cellophane bag with a ribbon or layer them in a tin with parchment between the rows. They hold up well for travel and pair beautifully with other make-ahead treats like our no-bake raspberry cheesecake bites. However you serve them, they disappear fast.
Almond Cookies FAQs
No, this dough does not require chilling, which is part of what makes these almond cookies so easy. You can scoop and bake right away. If your kitchen is very warm and the dough feels too soft to scoop cleanly, a quick 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge firms it up, but it is not required.
These almond cookies bake up with crisp, lightly golden edges and a soft, tender center, with a delicate sandy bite from the ground almonds. They are not a hard, crunchy biscotti style cookie. For crispier cookies all the way through, bake a minute or two longer; for softer centers, pull them right at 12 minutes.
Absolutely. Press a whole almond or a few sliced almonds into the top of each dough ball before baking for a classic bakery look. A light dusting of powdered sugar after baking, a drizzle of melted white or dark chocolate, or a sprinkle of flaky sea salt all dress them up nicely.
These almond cookies take well to mix-ins. Fold in white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, or dried cherries for a flavor twist. A half teaspoon of almond extract alongside the vanilla deepens the almond flavor, and a little orange or lemon zest adds a bright note.
Almond flour can stand in for the freshly ground sliced almonds if you want to skip the food processor step. Salted butter works if you reduce the added salt slightly. For a richer flavor, swap half the granulated sugar for additional brown sugar. Gluten-free 1-to-1 flour blends also work well in this recipe.
Store cooled almond cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. To keep them their freshest, add a slice of sandwich bread to the container to maintain softness. The baked cookies also freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, and the dough can be frozen as pre-scooped balls and baked straight from frozen.
Other Recommended Cookie Recipes
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Baking a batch of cookies? Try our these melt-in-your-mouth lemon cookies, soft, buttery, sugar-rolled puffs of bright lemon made with a cream cheese dough.
Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ cups sliced Almonds
- 2 & ½ Cups All purpose flour
- 1 Cup light Brown sugar Packed
- ¾ tsp Baking soda
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 Cup unsalted Butter
- ¾ Cups granulated Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Add the sliced almonds to a food processor and process until finely ground and set aside.1 & ½ cups sliced Almonds
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and the ground almonds.2 & ½ Cups All purpose flour, 1 Cup light Brown sugar, ¾ tsp Baking soda, ¾ tsp Salt
- In a large mixing bowl, whip the butter with an electric hand mixer until creamy, then add the sugar, egg, and vanilla until it’s well combined.1 Cup unsalted Butter, ¾ Cups granulated Sugar, 2 large Eggs, 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, scraping the sides as necessary until you get your dough.
- With a 1 tablespoon cookie scooper, add your dough to the prepared sheet trays and leave 2-3 inches in between as the cookies flatten.
- Cook for about 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Sliced Almond Magic: Instead of buying ground almonds, process sliced almonds in a food processor to a fine powder.
- Cookie Scoop: Using a cookie scoop ensures that all your cookies are of the same size, leading to even baking.
- No Overmixing: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix just until combined.
- Parchment Paper Is Your Friend: Always line baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cookie removal and cleanup.
- Watch the Oven: Since oven temperatures can vary, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out around the 10-minute mark to prevent overbaking.
- Storing Tips: If you store cookies in an airtight container, they maintain their soft and chewy texture.
Nutrition
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I can imagine wanting to know the measurement of the ingredient and not finding it would be frustrating. In the future we put our detailed information on the recipe card. I checked and the 3/4 vup of granulated sugar was there. I apprecite the feedback and will look into if this will make the customer experience better. Thank you and I am so happy you liked the recipe.
You’re missing the 3/4 C of granulated sugar in the baking steps both times in the article. I used almond extract instead of vanilla, and it worked out great. These were the best cookies I’ve ever made. I sprinkled coconut on the cookies, and baked them another two minutes. Delicious!
Why no cream of tartar?
I exprected more of an almond flavour. I had bought ground almonds from the bulk barn. Next time I will grind my own. These came out as short bready – still delicious
No that’s correct
Is it a typo that the brown sugar is combined with the dry ingredients? I’m in the process of making these and found that part alarming
Yes that’s fine
Can I use whole almonds with skin and grind ?
I replace the regular flour with almond flour and I’m very generous with the almonds. There always a hit!
2 dozen
How m any dozen does this make?