8ouncesalmond pastecut into 24 equal pieces and pressed into 1 inch discs
Instructions
Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Place almonds on a sheet pan and set aside.
Place flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into food processor. Pulse until well blended. Add the butter, and pulse until well distributed.
Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup and add extracts. Add into food processor and process until a dough forms. Pour the dough into a bowl and gather together into a smooth ball. Divide the ball in half.
On a work surface, roll each half of the dough into a 2-2 ½ inch diameter log. Roll each log into the reserved chopped almonds until they are well coated. Chill the logs in the refrigerator until they are very firm, at least 2-4 hours.
While the cookies are chilling, make the ganache. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a boil, and then remove from heat. Immediately add the chocolate chips and whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is well blended. Pour the mixture into a bowl and chill until it is thick enough to pipe.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Slice each log into ½ inch thick slices with a sharp knife and put the slices onto the sheet pans, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies for about 15-17 minutes, or until lightly brown. Cool.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip halfway with ganache. Dab a small amount of ganache onto one of the almond paste discs and adhere to the middle of a cookie. Pipe ganache around the almond paste, forming a circle. Repeat with remaining cookies and chill in refrigerator until ganache has firmed.
Notes
Makes approximately 2 dozen 3-3 ½ inch diameter cookies