This cookie has been on my mind for quite some time, and by quite some time, I mean it became a hyperfixation for a while but after a few unsuccessful attempts, I gave up on it and left it alone for a few months. Recently, I revisited this cookie again because I knew it had the potential of being a very good cookie. I toyed around with several versions of this cookie. The first version was quite disastrous — I created a cookie from strictly almond frangipane (delicious in theory, not as great upon execution) and the cookie spread so much that it became a giant almond crisp on my baking sheet. Adding more flour and leavening agents led to a very cakey almond cookie, which was also not what I had in mind for an almond croissant cookie. Each version tasted fine but did not texturally encapsulate a double-baked almond croissant from a bakery.
What makes a double-baked almond croissant so special is implied in its name. The croissant is doubled baked — meaning the croissant is baked first before it is filled with a creamy almond frangipane and baked again. The almond frangipane filling is what makes it so rich and decadent. The frangipane is essentially a sweet almond-flavoured custard, typical used in French pastry making. One of my favourite uses for frangipane is in a bakewell tart. Most double-baked almond croissants also have a crisp almond layer on top and I knew I wanted to incorporate that into my cookie as well.
Instead of mixing in the frangipane into the cookie dough or making the entire cookie of frangipane, I borrowed the idea of filling the cookie with almond frangipane from a double-baked almond croissant. Like with the croissant, each cookie is stuffed with the frangipane and topped with sliced almonds before it is baked. To really get the almond croissant vibes, we top each dough ball with a caramelized croissant chip, which adds even more fun textures to this cookie and allows it be labelled as double baked as well. I like serving my almond croissant cookies with a light dusting of icing sugar once they’ve cooled.
Almond Croissant Cookies
Ingredients
Caramelized Croissant Chip
- 4 mini croissants
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Almond Frangipane Filling
- 75 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 75 g (1/3 cup and 2 tsp) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 65 g (1/2 cup and 2 tbsp) ground almonds
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Almond Cookie Dough
- 140 g (1/2 cup and 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temp
- 126 g (1/2 cup and 2 tbsp) brown sugar
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg , room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 220 g (1 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup sliced almonds, for topping
Instructions
Caramelized Croissant Chip
- Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut each mini croissant into four slices. Arrange slices onto baking sheet.
- Drizzle melted butter over croissant slices. Dust with granulated sugar.
- Bake croissant slices until caramelized and golden, about 5 – 7 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow croissant chips to cool.
Almond Frangipane Filling
- In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth.
- Add egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined and no dry spots remain.
- Divide the frangipane filling into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball between the palms of your hands. Set aside.
Almond Cookie Dough
- In the same bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth.
- Add egg, vanilla, and almond extracts. Beat on medium speed until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder and soda, and kosher salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the mixing bowl, and mix on medium-low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Using a standard ice cream scoop, portion the cookie dough into 12 even portions.
- Using your thumb or knuckle of your index finger, create a dent in the centre of each dough ball. Place a portion of the almond frangipane filling in the centre of the cookie dough. Press cookie dough with frangipane side down into sliced almond, making sure the top of each dough ball is completely coated. Repeat with remaining cookie dough
- Top each dough ball with a caramelized croissant chip.
- Place dough balls onto baking sheet, at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake at 350F for 12 – 14 minutes, until edges are golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet.
- Dust with icing sugar once cookies have cooled.
![day two: sparkly matcha neapolitan shortbread cookies ✨
the instructions might seem confusing, but if you watch the video to see how the different flavour layers are stacked, it will make much more sense! these slice and bake cookies freeze extremely well so you can make the dough now and bake them off when you want to gift them. (makes 40-44)
vanilla dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
matcha dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tsp culinary matcha powder
1/4 tsp salt
strawberry dough
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g 6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg white
coarse sanding sugar
for the vanilla dough, combine butter and powdered sugar in a bowl. mix until smooth. add vanilla. add flour and salt and mix until no dry streaks remain. do the same for the matcha and strawberry doughs in separate bowls
place one portion of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a 5 x 9-inch rectangle that is about 1/4-inch thick. slide rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for 10 min until firm. repeat this step with the other portions of dough
remove the top piece of parchment from each slab and stack the strawberry, vanilla, and matcha dough layers. cut the slab down the middle the long way to form two 2.5 x 9-inch rectangles. with one half, carefully swap the order of the layers (example: if the first half of the dough is stacked svm, swap the second half so it’s msv. this will ensure that same flavour squares don’t stack on each other). stack the halves. press the layers gently to adhere them. return the stacked dough to the freezer for another 10min
[recipe cont’d in comments]
#christmasbaking #christmascookies #holidaybaking #holidaycookies #cookiedecorating](https://constellationinspiration.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Ishita Islam says
Hi!
Can I bake the cookies without the almond filling? Will it come out thinner, if so can I make two batches of almond cookie dough?
Grace says
Tastes good, but cookies were ridiculously big. I had way too much frangipane left over, even after using almost twice the ratio to cookie batter for each one. Double cookie recipe, or use another recipe altogether. Don’t add almonds until most of the way baked, as they will slide off and look pretty weird!
K says
The cookies spread quite drastically as they baked, and the frangipane was sooo runny (I had a bad feeling about the texture of it before I baked them), it melted off the top of the cookies into a giant, all-consuming puddle as it cooked, taking the sliced almonds with it.
After I made them, I double checked my measuring and that I hadn’t missed anything. I also at this point turned to the comments to see if anyone had had similar problems, and saw one where someone had almost the exact issues I did, so I’m wondering if there’s a mis-type with the recipe?
They did taste good (if a little greasy), but they were, unfortunately, an awful mess.