12 Days of Cookies - Day 6

Busy, busy week here. Still all kinds of loose ends to tie up on the Save the Date cards, we had to order our engagement photos last night and tonight my old high school friend is in briefly from NYC. I had hoped to give him a clean house and a fully lit Christmas tree. We got half way there. The extra lights for the tree were purchased, but not put on, and about 1/2 the rooms are clean. That's gonna have to be good enough! We got a big storm last night so I'm waiting to see if we are delayed at all for work - probably not.

As for the engagement photos, it was so difficult to pick! There were so many great ones, but we narrowed it down to ten. Of course, I feel as though we may soon have the most narcissistic house on the block with nothing but wall to wall pictures of us. I really have no idea what we're going to do with them, but it was the last chance to order so we figured we'd just get the ten best and figure it out later. If you have any great ideas, let me know. Here is Day 6, an Italian cookie I'm happy to say! I've never heard of this one, but it sounds good and very community oriented since you just make one big cookie and break it apart while you're all sitting around it.

Fregolata

This oversized cookie is perfect for big family dinners; place the whole thing in the middle of the table and hit it with a spoon to crack off pieces. Good-quality almond extract is absolutely key here; if you can't find it in your local stores, check online.

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup whole unblanched almonds, toasted (about 3 ounces)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment.

Pulse the nuts in a food processor to finely chop, allowing some larger pieces of nuts to remain. In a large bowl, combine butter, almonds, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks with 1 tablespoon of the milk. Add the extract. Drizzle yolk mixture over almond mixture and toss with fingers to combine and get everything moistened. (If needed add up to 1 more tablespoon of milk.) Mixture should still be crumbly, but not dry, like a crisp topping.

Sprinkle 1 cup (about half of the crumbs) on the prepared baking sheet and press lightly to create a thin, even 8-inch round. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over the top to give the cookie some texture. Bake until golden brown and crisp, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking, about 30 minutes. For an extra crispy cookie, turn oven off at this point and let the pan rest in oven for 10 minutes.

Cool on a rack until easy to handle. Slip the fregolata on the paper onto a rack to cool completely.

To serve, place a whole almond or overturned demitasse spoon under the center of the fregolata and rap the top with a spoon or the side of a knife to crack into serving pieces.

Busy baker's tips: Dough can be frozen on cookie sheet for up to 1 week and baked from the freezer (for an extra 5 to 10 minutes). Store baked cookie in an airtight container or on a baking sheet wrapped with plastic wrap for up to 1 week. Baked cookie can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and frozen for up to 2 weeks.