Whenever I bite into these intensely almondy, crispy-crumbly biscuits, I'm taken straight back to childhood trips to bakeries in Hong Kong. I encourage you to grind the almonds yourself if you can, because it really does add to the flavour, but they're still pretty damn perfect with ready-made almond meal.
130g plain almonds, or 130g almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
170g all-purpose flour
130g caster sugar
110g colza oil
Glaze - 1 egg, lightly beaten with a drop of water (you can also use only the yolk, or, just cream, or milk)
Optional - whole almonds for garnish
If using whole almonds, pulse them in a food processor til finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add in the baking powder, baking soda and salt and pulse a few times again, then tip into large bowl and mix in the flour and sugar. Otherwise, simply combine the almond meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and stir together thoroughly.
Pour the oil all over the almond flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon to combine - it should come together into a mostly cohesive dough that you can easily break pieces off, and doesn’t crumble.
At this point, you can clingfilm the bowl and stick it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to bake, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 180° degrees.
Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it into a ball (20g or so if you’re in the mood to weigh it). If you like, press an almond into the top as you gently compact the ball into a fattish disc. This is optional, but it does add a lovely crunch to the finished biscuit. Place onto a prepared baking sheet - these don’t spread too much so you can get quite a few on there.
Carefully brush the beaten egg over the tops of the biscuits, then bake for 15 - 20 mins, rotating the trays halfway through, til they’re slightly browned.
Cool for a minute or too, then use a knife or spatula to gently slide the cookies off the parchment and onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.