Flo Flo's Grandma's Almond Butter Cookies

Oh my...  is there anything more delicious than a decadently rich, buttery cookie that absolutely melts in your mouth?

This is the cookie that EVERY child of mine requests EVERY year.  This is the recipe that wills people to call you (usually with a mouth full of cookie) to beg for the recipe.  This, my friends, is THE "go to" seasonal WOW but easy cookie.

This cookie is loaded with butter so it's not something we make all through the year.  We save the recipe for Christmas so that we have something special to look forward to!  Because Ian is leaving for Australia on Monday, I made him a batch now so that he doesn't miss out  XO

Flo Flo's Grandma's Almond Butter Cookies

1 lb soft butter (no substitutes and do NOT reduce quantity)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp almond extract (do NOT omit!)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda (bicarb)
4 cups white flour
red glace cherries

Preheat oven to 300 deg.   Cut whole glace cherries in half and leave them cut side down on a clean tea towel or paper towel to drain while you make the dough.  Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and beat together.  Add remaining ingredients and beat until just blended.  Don't overwork the dough or the cookies will be tough.   Roll into walnut sized balls and place on un-greased cookie sheets.  Press half of a glace cherry (cut side down) into the top of each ball.  Bake 12-14 minutes or just until barely starting to turn light brown around the edges.  It's VITAL that you don't over bake them, as they are meant to be chewy and tender, not brown and crispy.  Leave the cookies to set for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before you move them to a cooling rack or they'll fall apart.

We came across this recipe about 16 years ago when our old neighbour, Florence gave us some of these cookies for Christmas.  As soon as we ate ONE cookie we KNEW we had to have the recipe!  Thankfully, Florence willingly shared it, saying her Grandma would have loved everyone baking them and enjoying them.  We have made these cookies every single Christmas since and we have given them as gifts to eagerly expectant neighbors and friends nearly every year!

When our oldest boys (now 20 and 18) were just little, they couldn't say Florence very well, so her name got shortened to FloFlo and it stuck :)  Thanks, FloFlo for sharing your Grandma's delicious cookies!