History
When it comes to traditions for remembering St. Francis of Assisi, there is one recipe that takes the cake, and that is the almond cookies he is said to have loved and received as a gift from a friend on his deathbed. For a man who devoted his life to simplicity and shunning the comforts of the world, St. Francis could still appreciate a well-crafted treat. What a great comfort to know that even the more austere saints could enjoy the good things of God’s creation!
As the story goes, Jacoba de Settesoli was a close friend of St. Francis and had previously made these sweet almond cookies for him—they quickly became his favorite. When the time of Francis’ death drew near, he was surrounded by close friends, but Jacoba was missing. He asked that she come but also that she should bring along some of the cookies. When a friend went to send for her, lo and behold, she was already at the gate with a batch of cookies in hand.
St. Francis Almond Cookies
This recipe has been a true hit in our family. It is inspired by several different variations on the cookies that Jacoba de Settesoli could have made for St. Francis. Through our recipe testing we found one thing to be sure, and that is that it is best to start with whole almonds and not use almond flour. The coarsely ground almonds give this cookie a wonderful texture that almost makes one feel like they are eating baklava in cookie form. The sweet nuttiness in every bite is delicious, and the cookie remains soft even after baking. But this brings up another important point.
In order to achieve a soft, moist cookie, the dough is going to be rather sticky. That’s ok, and we encourage you to do the best you can when cutting and shaping the cookies. We found it easiest to simply reshape them into diamonds after they were spaced out on the baking sheet. All in all, the mess is well worth it!
Ingredients
1 lb almonds, blanched (approximatly 3 cups coarsely ground blanched almonds)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons water
¾ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Coarsely grind the almonds in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Add in the sugars and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Next add in the egg whites and water and mix again. Gradually add in the all-purpose flour until a dough forms.
- Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350.
- Once chilled, roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper to ¼ inch thickness and cut diagonal lines in the dough to form diamonds. The dough will be sticky, and you can add a tablespoon of flour on top to roll it out. Do the best you can to roll out and cut the cookies, then transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, allowing for space in between cookies. Reshape them back into diamonds as needed.
- Bake the cookies at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the cookie has set but before they brown.
- Remove and let cool. Enjoy!
St. Francis of Assisi Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 lb blanched almonds or approximately 3 cups coarsely ground blanched almonds
- ½ C granulated sugar
- ½ C brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tbsp water
- ¾ C purpose flour
Instructions
- Coarsely grind the almonds in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Add in the sugars and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Next add in the egg whites and water and mix again. Gradually add in the all-purpose flour until a dough forms.
- Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Once chilled, roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper to ¼ inch thickness and cut diagonal lines in the dough to form diamonds. The dough will be sticky, and you can add a tablespoon of flour on top to roll it out. Do the best you can to roll out and cut the cookies, then transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, allowing for space in between cookies. Reshape them back into diamonds as needed.
- Bake the cookies at 350℉ for 10-15 minutes until the cookie has set but before they brown.
- Remove and let cool. Enjoy!
