Favorite Christmas Cookies #1

Total Time: 35 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 35 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 48
• 2 1/3 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup almonds (unblanched, finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 6 ounces chocolate chips (semisweet)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon water, hot but not boiling

Recipe

• 1 sift flour with 1/4 teaspoons salt.
• 2 with a hand mixer at medium speed, beat butter, sugar, egg yolk and almond extract until light and fluffy.
• 3 mix in almonds. (dough will be stiff.).
• 4 shape dough into two rolls, each about 1.5" in diameter. wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.
• 5 preheat oven to 350. cut dough into slices 1/4" thick. bake on greased cookie sheets at 350 for 8-10 minutes. cool completely.
• 6 make chocolate dip: melt chocolate morsels, 3 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoons hot water in double boiler.
• 7 dip cooled cookies in chocolate dip. only dip half of the cookie, so there's a semicircle of chocolate, and a semicircle of cookie.
• 8 optional: dust with ground or chopped almonds, or other decorations.