Almond Joy Cookies

Now this is a flavor combination I can get behind. Coconut, chocolate and almond. Yum. The cookies are a crumbly coconut/almond combination, topped with a chocolate glaze and toasted almonds. Overall, these were pretty good cookies... the cookie base was a bit dry and crumbly, but not in a really bad way. My only real complaint was that the chocolate was a bit overwhelming for the rest of the cookie. If I made them again, I would drizzle the chocolate rather than dip it, and I would pay more attention to breaking up the almonds.

These were actually much better the second day after the flavors had a chance to meld. The coconut and almond came out a bit more and the chocolate mellowed -- but I still think I would drizzle rather than dip next time.

Ingredients:
Dough
1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temp
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp coconut extract
1/4 cup almond paste
1 large egg
1 cup coconut
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Icing:
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsps corn syrup
2 tbsps butter

Topping
1 cup blanched almonds, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

To make the dough: In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, almond extract, coconut extract and almond paste. Add the egg, beating until fairly smooth, then stir in the coconut. Stir in the flour.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. USe your fingers to gently flatten each cookie to about 2 inches in diameter.

Bake the cookies for 14 minutes until their edges are a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

To make the icing: In a small pan over low heat or in the microwave, melt together the chocolate chips, corn syrup and butter, stirring until smooth. Dip the top of each cooled cookie in the icing, then transfer them to a rack. Sprinkle with almonds.