French cuisine · Desserts & Sweets

Almond Croquants

Very hard, twice-baked almond biscuits from the south, classically dunked in dessert wine.

Ingredients · for 8 servings

• 250 g flour
• 200 g sugar
• 200 g almonds
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 organic lemon
• 1 egg yolk for brushing

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C top/bottom heat and toast the whole almonds on a baking sheet for 8 min. until fragrant; let cool and roughly halve.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and the finely grated zest of the organic lemon, add the 2 eggs and the egg white, and knead into a firm, sticky dough.
3. Work in the toasted almonds and shape the dough on a floured surface into two logs about 5 cm in diameter.
4. Place the logs on a baking sheet lined with parchment, flatten to about 2 cm high, brush with beaten egg yolk and bake for 20 min. until firm and light brown.
5. While still warm, cut the logs diagonally into 1.5 cm thick slices with a serrated knife and lay the slices back on the sheet cut-side up.
6. Bake again at 150°C for another 15–18 min. to dry out until the croquants are hard all the way through, let cool completely on a rack and store airtight.