Almond Diamond Cookies (a.k.a Margaret Cookies)

In Korea there are these cookies called Margarets.

Don't ask me why they're called that, but what I do know is that Margaret cookies are basically soft almond cookies with a diamond pattern on top. They're pretty popular in Korea.

Well, it just so happens that I have a good friend named Margaret. And it just happens that she loves cookies...especially MY cookies.

Some friendships are just meant to be. I swear it on an almond cookie.

We met during our Freshman year at Oxford College, where we both enrolled in Art 101 during our first Fall semester. She sat in the front row, I sat in the second row, and we didn't get to talk much- in class nor outside of class. But one day, as I was getting ready to leave Williams Hall after my recreational dance class, she came in for her next class. One thing led to another and we were talking about our research papers for Art and how she needed a second opinion on her paper and I would love to look over it and hey, why don't we meet sometime around this place on this day and before I knew it two years had passed and I was baking her namesake cookies and writing a blog post about it.

I am so thankful for Margaret because our friendship came as a surprise to me. Even though I am Korean-born, I don't have a lot of Korean friends. It's just awkward...talking with both International and American-Korean students. I feel as though a stiff cultural barrier stands between us, as ironic as that sounds. I wish I could befriend a lot of them, but it's so difficult when I feel like we're each operating on different social wavelengths.

Margaret is a self-labled "Korean-Korean," and I'm, uh, stuck somewhere deep in the nuances of the Korean and American culture. But we're friends. I can list reasons why we are and why we couldn't or whatever, but at the end of the day, we are there for each other. We worry about each other, and we pray for each other. And that's what really matters.

Did any of you ever end up being friends with someone in a totally unexpected way? Someone that you thought you'd never be friends with?

Funny how life works out sometimes, huh?

:)

So...on to making these cookies.

I have to confess that I had a TON of issues with the original recipe. The dough spread way too much in the oven, the cookies were crispy (in a really weird, indescribable way...), and I couldn't get the diamond indentations to stay on matter how hard I tried.

So what I did was add in some extra flour and shortening to stabilize the dough during baking. This ensured that the dough didn't spread too much, and the diamond shape held out beautifully. Also, instead of rolling the dough into a log and cutting it after refrigeration, I just went ahead and shaped the cookies with my hands. Worked like a charm.

Just take about a tablespoonful of dough and shape it into a thick disk, like so.

Be advised that my hands are freakishly small, so the dough looks bigger on my palm than it really is. Meaning that they may look smaller when resting on your normal, regular, not-freakishly-small-sized palms.

Unless you happen to be a young, fabulous, seven-year-old culinary wunderkind making these cookies. 

In which case you rock, and here's a high-five and a huge hug and another high-five for ya. Way to resist the prepackaged cookie dough with preservatives you can't pronounce. Yeah!

Instead of using a knife, I used the flat top of a metal spatula to make my diamond indentations. It's much easier to maneuver, in my opinion.

Now, dough ready, oven set, and fingers crossed that they turn out well.

...And here they are!!!

Sweet, pretty, and adorable, just like my friend Margaret.



Almond Diamond Cookies (a.k.a Margaret Cookies)

*makes about 20 cookies*

Ingredients:
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and the sugar. Add in the egg and the egg yolk, beating after each addition. Add in the vanilla and the almond extract.

3. Pour in the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, and mix to form a dough.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

5. Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into your hands to form a ball. Slightly flatten the ball into a disk shape and place on a cookie sheet that's been covered with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Form the rest of the cookie dough and place on cookie sheet.

6. Using a sharp knife or the flat top of a metal spatula, make criss-crossed diamond patterns on top of the cookies.

7. Bake cookies 15 minutes or until the edges are set and golden. Cool the cookie for about a minute in the pan, then, using a pancake turner, remove cookies to cool on a wire rack.

Source: Adapted from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts