If cranberry’s not your thing, raspberry would work equally well. If you’re avoiding cane sugar, coconut sugar is a great option (just keep in mind, the color will be darker).

Happy baking!

Lemon-Almond Cookies with Cranberry Glaze

• Makes 10-12 cookies 
• Special equipment: none 
• Freezable: yes

Ingredients:

Cookies: 

• 1 lemon
• 2 cups super-fine or finely ground almond flour
• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, optional 
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Glaze: 

• ½ cup frozen cranberries
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Make the cookies: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Zest the lemon into a large bowl, then reserve remaining lemon for the glaze. To the bowl, add almond flour, sugar, egg whites, vanilla extract, ground cardamom, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until a paste-like dough forms. 

3. Dampen your hands and form the dough into roughly 2” balls. Place on the baking sheet evenly spaced apart. Use your hand to flatten each ball until it’s about ¾” thick.

4. Bake 14-16 minutes, until bottoms are starting to turn golden. Remove from the oven and use the bottom of a drinking glass or mug to flatten each cookie slightly (this creates a better surface for glazing later on). Return to the oven and bake 2 more minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. 

Make the glaze: 

1. Juice the lemon until you have 1 tablespoon juice; add juice to a small saucepan. Add cranberries and cook over medium heat until berries start to burst, about 3-4 minutes. 

2. Using a spatula, press cranberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Most of the pulp will end up stuck to the other size of the strainer, so use a spatula to scrape it off. You want about 1 tablespoon of pulp to make it to your bowl. Add powdered sugar and stir together until you have a bright pink glossy glaze. 

3. While cookies are still a bit warm, use a spoon to spread glaze over each cookie. Allow to cool completely; glaze will harden as it cools