Chewy Almond Macaroon Horseshoes
Makes about 20 cookies
2 8-ounce packages almond paste, crumbled into pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
2 cups sliced almonds, lightly crushed between the fingers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Cover two large sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse almond paste and sugar until almond paste has broken down and blended into the sugar. There should be no lumps and the mixture should look like white sand. Add egg whites and process until well combined. The dough should look like wet clay. Transfer the dough to a large cutting board that has been dusted with 1 teaspoon of the flour.
- Divide the dough in half with a knife and place one half on the cutting board rolling it into a 12 inch long log.
- Using a small knife cut the log into 10 equal pieces.
- Place half the crushed almonds onto a medium sized plate or pie pan.
- Roll one of the pieces of dough to a 5 inch long log. Do not use anymore flour or the almonds will not stick to the dough. Place the log into the crushed almonds and roll it gently to coat all sides, pressing gently to help the almonds to adhere to the dough.
- Bend the dough in half and curve it to look like a horseshoe. Place the cookie onto one of the prepared sheet pans.
- Repeat rolling and shaping the remaining 9 pieces of dough leaving a space between each as they are placed onto the sheet pan.
- Repeat steps 3-7 with the remaining half of dough. There should be 10 horseshoes on each of the 2 sheet pans.
- Allow the horseshoes to dry out at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
- Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. The horseshoes should be a light brown. Be careful that the almonds do not burn. The cookies will firm up as they cool.
- Cool completely and store in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.