Almond and rosewater shortbread

I might love baking cookies but I usually shy away from rolled out kind – yes, I’m lazy and yes, I’ve turned several rolled out cookie recipes into slice and bake cookies out of sheer laziness. Not a very nice thing to admit, I know, but true. So months ago, on a cool day – which because of the temperatures we’ve been having here lately seems even more distant – I decided to make roll out cookies, and the combo almond and rosewater seemed perfect: not only because I thought it would taste delicious (and it was, indeed) but also because all those almond pieces dispersed throughout the dough would definitely stop me from turning the cookies into the slice and bake kind. :D

Almond and rosewater shortbread
slightly adapted from the always beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

120g whole almonds
220g unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (75g) icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons rosewater
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons Amaretto
330g all purpose flour
3½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

Assembling:
2-3 tablespoons rosewater, or to taste
1½ cups (210g) icing sugar, for rolling the cookies

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Spread almonds on an oven tray and roast, stirring occasionally, until golden (5-6 minutes). Cool completely, then coarsely chop and set aside.
Beat butter, icing sugar, vanilla and rosewater in an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the yolk, then Amaretto, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt, add almonds and stir to form a stiff dough, then turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Roll out dough between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper to 1.5cm-thick. Cut into your desired shape using any 5cm (2in) diameter cutter and place onto prepared sheets. Reroll scraps once. Bake until light golden on the edges (18-20 minutes), cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with rosewater. Carefully roll the warm cookies in the icing sugar, then cool over a wire rack.
Cookies will keep, stored in an airtight container, for 1 week (dust with icing sugar between layers).

Makes about 60