Lemon Almond Cookies

This past weekend we hosted my mother in laws birthday dinner and although she didn't request a special dessert I wanted to make one. My brother in law said he would be in charge of a cake so I figured I would do some sort of cookie or tart. I knew that lemon was her thing because when we went to try cakes for our wedding, she loved the lemon and that's what we chose for a layer. I was going to go the lemon square route but wanted to do something different so I went to my binder full of magazine cut outs and found a recipe for these Lemon Almond Cookies. The use of sugar cookie mix makes for an easy exchange for "from scratch" batter, which for me was great since I was short on time, aka had hubby helping me. 

Lemon Almond Cookies 

Items Needed 

2 Mini Muffin Pan 

Medium saucepan

Mini Muffin/cupcake paper

Rolling Pin, to make dent  

• 1  pouch  sugar cookie mix, any will do
• 1/2  cup whole almonds, ground
• 6  tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 1  package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened 
• Homemade Lemon Filling or jarred Lemon Curd 

• Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 48 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, stir cookie mix, ground almonds, butter and cream cheese until soft dough forms.
• Shape dough into 48 (1 1/4-inch) balls. Place each ball in bottom of cup and press to make a dent, using end of rolling pin dipped in flour ( that's what we used but you can use your thumb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan, about 30 minutes.
• Remove cookie cups from pan. Fill each with about 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon filling
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Lemon Filling

• 1 0.25 oz. packet unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 c.  sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/3 c.  fresh-squeezed lemon juice

• In a bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the warm water and let it sit for a few minutes to soften. 
• Beat the egg yolks in another small bowl and set aside.
• In saucepan combine the sugar and cornstarch, then gradually whisk in the water and gelatin. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and boils. 
• Boil for about a minute, then remove from heat and pour a little into the egg yolks
• Beat together then gradually add back into the gelatin mixture.
• Return to the heat and simmer for about a minute.
• Remove from the heat and beat in butter and lemon juice until smooth.

Eat and Enjoy!!!