North Dakota is rich in Scandinavian heritage. Minot, North Dakota hosts Norsk Høstfest - the Norwegian Autumn Festival - every October. I chose a recipe I came across that brings Scandinavian flavors to a pre-made cookie mix.
This recipe comes from Betty Crocker. You add almond extract & sliced almonds to their sugar cookie mix, form it into rectangles and bake. After baking, the still softened cookies are cut on a diagonal then drizzled with an almond scented icing and more sliced almonds.
These cookies were so good, in fact, that they didn't last in my house more than a day. After the cookies had cooled, I kept them on the cooling racks so I could drizzle them with the icing. I then kept them out to allow the icing to harden. The smell of fresh cookies and almonds was so overpowering, about half the batch was gone before the icing dried. Every time you walked by them, you couldn't help but just break off a piece of one. I quickly packaged two up in a baggie to take to work the next day. It wasn't until I was sitting at my desk chomping on the last one that I realized I never photographed them. I rushed home from work and it was too late. They were gone. So, while there is no photo of my batch of these delicious cookies, there is one on the Betty Crocker website. I can promise, mine were no where near as pretty, but they were delicious!
North Dakota Scandinavian Almond Cookies
from Betty Crocker
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 teaspoons milk
1 cup sliced almonds
Almond Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
5 to 6 teaspoons milk
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg, flour and 1 teaspoon almond extract until dough forms. Divide dough into 3 equal parts; place on ungreased cookie sheets. Press each into 12x3-inch rectangle.
Brush each rectangle with 1 teaspoon milk; sprinkle with 1/3 cup almonds. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; cut into 1-inch diagonal slices (I used a pizza cutter). Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
In small bowl, stir powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 5 to 6 teaspoons milk until desired consistency. Drizzle over cookies; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons almonds
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