Vanilla Almond Orange Cloud Cookies

almond cloud cookies

November is a month that always makes my head spin.  I feel like I’m barreling full force into the holidays, into the end of the year, into planning my life for the next year, into trying to keep my act together and my sore throat at bay.

I only wish November came with a tally of the year… just a little list that could tell me what has gone down in my year so far.

I don’t need an update on my New Year’s Resolutions for 2012… we all know those were shot to hell somewhere around January 18, 2012.  I want a tally more along the lines of:  How many times I used the word ‘bonkers’.  How many cookies I stress ate in my car.  How many times I’ve walked around town with either a pound of butter, or a bag of brown sugar in my purse.  How many times I’ve Googled the same word to spell check it.  You know… the important things.  The things that really tell you how you’re living in your everyday.  Quirky, cosmopolitan, and resourceful… right?

The November days are ticking away quickly. December will come and go in a blur of cranberries and Mariah Carey Christmas CDs.  Before we know it we’ll be pushing someone in the frigid pool at the New Year’s Eve party.

For now… while we have this simple and quiet November 13th… let’s just enjoy these (or really any) cookies, close our eyes and tally the year’s ridiculousness.

When it comes to these (gluten-free!!) Vanilla Almond Orange Cloud Cookies, I feel like I have some explaining to do.

Some explaining beyond an enthusiastic ‘they’re amazing!’ (which they totally are).

These cookies are made with almond paste.  Almond paste is a thick mixture of ground almonds, sugar, and almond flavoring.  It’s an all-almond situation.  Because almond paste is the main ingredient of these cookies, we’re talking about an intensely almond extravaganza.

almond cloud cookies

Almond flavor is paired with orange zest and vanilla bean.  I think the three are pretty, fragrant, and well deserving of one another.

almond cloud cookies

We’ll need two egg whites.

almond cloud cookies

And we’ll need to beat those egg whites until they’re a bit frothy.

almond cloud cookies

The almond paste is beaten with the fragrant orange and vanilla sugar.

It’s crumbly and that’s totally cool.  The egg whites will be mixed in, and smooth out our cookie world.

almond cloud cookies

No flour.  No butter.  No baking powder or baking soda.  Just almond, lovely sugar, and eggs (ok… there’s salt and almond extract too).

It’s like being on the almond flavor train.

almond cloud cookies

The flavor train is dusted generously with powdered sugar.

almond cloud cookies

Three finger indentations are made in each cookie and they’re off to meet the oven.

almond cloud cookies

These are among the most dreamy cookies imaginable.  Taste and texture are supreme!  The cookies bake up with a lightly golden, crisp exterior.  They’re covered in powdered sugar so there’s no mouth breathing while ingesting.  The inside is impossibly soft and tender… and so beautifully flavored with almond, orange, and vanilla, your brain will find its happy place.  Chewy meets crunchy.  Pavlova meets macaroon (minus the coconut) meets edible cloud.

This recipe is inspired by a cookie I enjoyed at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont this weekend.  I need to tell you more about that trip!  Suffice it to say, I made a ton of pie, I baked with some lovely (and super talented) students, and I was genuinely surrounded by people who love good flour and respect good baguette as much as I do.  Basically… heaven.

Vanilla Almond Orange Cloud Cookies

recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

Print this Recipe!

makes 18 to 21 cookies

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoon orange zest

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

10 ounces almond paste

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

powdered sugar

Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar, orange zest, and scraped vanilla seeds.  Use your fingers to works the zest and vanilla into the sugar, creating a fragrant, moist sugar.

Place sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add the almond paste and salt.  Beat on medium speed creating a crumbly sugar and almond mixture.

While almond mixture is combining in the mixer, place two egg whites in a small bowl.  Whisk  with a fork until loose and frothy.  This will help in pouring the egg whites into the mixer.  If the eggs are unbeaten, they’ll just plop into the mixing bowl and not pour in.

With the mixer on medium speed, gradually pour the egg whites in to the crumbly almond and sugar mixture.  Beat until a smooth paste is formed.  Add the almond extract and beat to combine.

Spoon or scoop batter by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.  Using the tips of three of your fingers, make indentations in each cookie.

Bake cookies for 20 to 25 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned on top.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan.  Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.  

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Questions

155 Responses

  1. Hi,

    I’ve already tried it twice and both times I got a very gooey dough that could not stand on its own, giving me very flat cookies. Any tips?

    1. Hi. Sounds like your eggs were too large which resulted in a wet dough. Use large eggs. I always start with one egg beaten in a bullet. After that incorporates, I beat the 2nd one in the bullet & add a little at a time until the dough reaches the right consistency

  2. Delicious!! Made them twice as directed, neither batch came out with finger holes as in your pictures! I puched my fingers deep on 1 batch, and halfay on the other. Only slight indentations in the final product. Love them just the way they are, but wondering what I missed.

  3. Hi there! This recipe looks amazinggggggg! I can’t wait to try them! However, I am just wondering whether it is possible if i substitute the almond paste with almond flour instead? :)

  4. I tried baking these today. I encountered a few issues! I made the almond paste myself which turned out fine. But after adding all the ingredients and when it came time to spoon it out onto the cookie sheet, the batter was still very wet and sticky. Almost impossible to spoon out neatly. I ended up putting everything back in my mixer and added more almond meal which turned out ok since I was then able to roll them into little balls to bake (even though it was still quite sticky). After they were baked, they were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Which I quite like the texture of. But OMG they were so incredibly sweet! I honestly wouldn’t be able to eat them. The flavour however was amazing, the smell of orange and almond was divine, but really disappointed how overly sweet they were. Would the recipe work out with less sugar? I didn’t even dust them with icing sugar before baking.

    1. It is very gooey and do not look good before baking. I make smaller cookies 30-36 per batch because they are so rich. After baking they are perfect. I bake 325 but with convection (so 300) for about 18 to 23 mins for these smaller cookies. They are great! Everyone LOVES them.

  5. Hi there! I just made these and my husband loved them. I didn’t have vanilla bean so I used 1/2 tsp vanilla instead (could have used more)! I added whole almonds instead of sticking my fingers in there which was great for texture… The crunchy component was a great addition!!

  6. Hi Joy –

    Is it ok to substitute vanilla extract for the vanilla bean? If so, how much would you add?

    Thanks!!

  7. Joy,
    I thought these looked perfect for Passover so just made a batch and ran into a couple of issues. First, where does the salt come in? Next, I’m at 6300 feet above sea level and mine completely flattened out. Haven’t tasted them yet, but they don’t look pretty like yours. Any suggestions?
    Sydney

  8. Hello, I am confused. The recipe says almond paste (which already has sugar and egg whites in it) but the picture looks looks like almond flour. I dont want to spend money on almond paste if I can use almond flour instead. I just bought a 10lbs bag of it. :) Please help. I can’t wait to make these. :)

  9. I was so excited to make these because I love almond paste. I almost didn’t add the salt because it wasn’t in the instruction but threw it in anyways. I don’t know what I did wrong but my dough did not work out at all. I followed the recipe exactly and I got a runny batter with lumpy almond paste no matter how long I beat it for (stand mixer-medium setting). I finally had to add some flour to rescue the batter. The result was large flat cracked cookies. They are still super tasty and everyone loves them (taste like chewy almond meringues) but they do not look anything like the pictured cookies I was aiming for.

  10. Made these this weekend and they are awesome! I forgot to add the salt though because it wasn’t in the description part of recipe…dummy me didn’t recheck the list of ingredients before I baked them to make sure I had it all in there…where should I have added the salt?

  11. I just made a batch, they’re still in the oven and the smell itself is worth the effort of hand beating (for want of a working electric stand mixer)… the BEST air freshener ever. Here in France you can find almond paste very easily, as it’s part of a traditional dessert for Christmas.
    The tradition in Provence (Southern France) is to make 13 desserts for Christmas. One of them is dried fruits (dates, walnuts and prunes) filled with almond paste…. and it so happens to be my personal favourite.
    Can’t wait to taste these heavenly cookies, I find it hard to just watche them cooling……….

  12. I made the original King Arthur Flour cookies last Christmas and they were really unique and yummy. I’m looking forward to trying your new variation!

  13. I made these cookies for family in town for thanksgiving and they were a huge hit! Thanks for the recipe :) I will scale down the sugar the tiniest bit next time, though I’m the only one who wanted a tiny bit less sweetness.

  14. I made these as one of the desserts I brought to Thanksgiving Dinner. I am gluten free and loved seeing something sweet on here I could make. The cookies were so good. I literally could have eaten the whole batch. But then I would have died of a sugar comma. All I can say is YUM! This is a keeper for me. Thanks!

  15. Hi Joy! I made these last week and was really happy with the results. I did use less sugar (about a third cup less) ’cause the almond paste I found seemed to be already pretty sweet. Anyways, I’m a sucker for recipes with just a few ingredients so thanks for a great and simple recipe :).

  16. I used marzipan instead of almond paste .. Needless to say, they are spreading widely in the oven! I shall be looking out for almond paste for another attempt.

  17. Hey joy. I live in lahaina on maui and i have a whole bag of almonds here…. Which my mom sent from california seeing as they’re so expensive here. But the price of 10 oz. of almond paste would send me to the poor house in comparison. Is there a way i can make it on my own?

  18. These look just beautiful, and they would taste wonderful with fresh oranges finally being in season; i’m so excited to be making desserts for fall even though it isn’t really fall or winter where I leave but at least we get the produce :) ..

    Check out my blog for Asian Fusion Food & Desserts – Kayshouseoftreats.blogspot.com

  19. Hi Joy, I made one of your recipes – and made cookies – for the first time! I’m in the UK, and I didn’t know where to buy almond paste, so I made some with a recipe I found (quarter icing sugar, quarter caster sugar, half ground almonds, egg & orange juice to bind). I think my almond paste must have been wetter than yours, and the cookies were a disaster in the oven, smelling amazing for 10 minutes, then with a burning smell… when I opened the oven, the whole lot had fallen into a big spread out, burnt mess! I still have half the mix left – could I fix it by adding some more almond paste, do you think? It’s my first experience with cookies, and don’t know what to do to fix it! Any ideas welcomed! Really enjoying your website – thank you!

  20. Hey Joy, I was wondering if instead of almond paste you could get away with using Marzipan? Do you think it will have the same effect?
    Great post, as always! <3

  21. I’m so jealous of where you spent your weekend… surrounded by butter, sugar, flour and the gorgeous colors of Vermont in the fall. Living in Southern California, I can easily forget that we’re almost done with fall and about to welcome in winter. Thanks for the reminder.

  22. there has been a lot of cookie baking in my kitchen and these cookies will need to join the party soon. I adore the thumb prints on top and I want to do something crazy like put jam or orange curd inside…

  23. Hello-

    If I double this recipe- do I need to change any of the measurements? Is it okay to double the batch of dough or do I need to make 2 separate batches of dough?

    Thank you!

  24. these look delicious- like the base of pignoli cookies without the pine nuts. My store sometimes sells an almond cresent cookie out of their bakery that I LOVE! Crisp outside, chewy inside, and I love that almond flavor. So, I’m gonna hafta make these ones. Looks and sounds so good.

  25. No way. I just re-read the title like 3 times. It’s a culinary trifecta of the best flavors in baking. Warning to gluten free peeps. Not all almond paste is GF. I know that Solo brand is safe. I already want to eat this batter with a spoon.

  26. Yay for Mariah Carey Christmas cds!!! Those are the best. I’m excited to try these cookies. I recently went gluten-free and I’m working to amass a whole new collection of recipes. Thanks!

  27. My birthday happens to be January 18th and so I’m never one to make a food-related resolution! Not one that cuts out the good stuff anyway.

  28. These look heavenly and would make a great Christmas gift for my GF boss. Can you make your own almond paste? I’m sure I could find it, but I have some ground almonds I wouldn’t mind using!

  29. Love this recipe! Having worked with almond paste before, mine hardened and was chunky in the batter. If this happens could I heat it to soften? And how long do these cookies last? Are they able to ship? Thank you, Joy! xo.

  30. oh yum !
    i just finished my dinner of fries and brown butter bourbon blondies,
    because of the many things you have taught me joy its that potatoes are a vegetable (so its totally okay to have fries for dinner) and that bourbon should be considered a major food group… i cherish your knowledge :)
    soooooo, can i still have these cookies for desert?
    (please say yes !)

  31. So, I just went gluten free about 2 weeks ago, and I needed to get this post in my inbox today, like sunshine to my soul! Cannot wait to try, do you think coconut sugar could replace cane sugar?…equally? Thankful for your yummy recipes

  32. It wouldn’t be Christmas without Mariah Carey Holiday Tunes…and how could you forget Love Actually…and the inevitable regret of drinking too much eggnog and eating too many stuffed mushrooms. The list goes on.

  33. OMG, passing these on to my sister who does lots of baking for bridal showers, these will be awesome. BTW, keep a sore throat at bay by gargling with warm salt water, you know this… Well then try this, sip on a shot of good bourbon, like Bullit or Maker’s Mark. That sore throat will soon be forgotten.

  34. I love your recipies, especially the gluten free ones because my roommate recently found out she has a gluten allergy and I’ve been trying to find tasty treats that she can enjoy as well. But here’s the problem, I’m allergic to nuts and having a difficult time finding recipies that will work for both of us. Do you have any suggestions for gluten free baking that doesn’t involve nut flour/paste? Thanks so much!

  35. I’m making these, for sure and for certain. My family loves almond-flavoured baking – maybe it’s a Dutch thing? There seems to be a lot of traditional recipes that involve almond flavour. Can’t wait to get my hands on some almond paste and get cracking!

  36. I just happen to have 2 cans of almond paste in my pantry. And I’m wondering if it would be possible to tuck a blanced almond into each one of those finger holes. If you explained the finger holes, I totally missed it.

  37. How big is your cookie scoop? That sounds vaguely dirty, but it’s a legit question. I went to buy one recently but was overwhelmed at the choices, so I left empty handed.

  38. Yummmm!! Could I somehow make these with almond pulp?? I have a ton that I saved from making a few batches of almond milk with my juicer… would love if I could use it up to make this recipe!

    Thanks!

  39. these look amazing! and gluten-free! I love you! Thanks so much – i’m so making these and can’t wait to have them with a nice cup of tea.

  40. I adore anything made with almond paste. Have you ever tried Amanda Hesser’s almond cake, in the NYT cookbook or in her book, “Cooking for Mr. Latte? (which I think you would totally love, by the way). It’s PHENOMENAL.

  41. OH MY GOSH as soon as i heard almond cloud cookies i thought of king arthur. i’m a student at dartmouth college in nh, where king arthur has a small cafe in the library stocked FULL of almond cloud cookies. these sound like a wonderful twist on an already delicious cookie!

  42. Can’t wait to try these cookies, and to hear about your trip!

    I was so psyched to see you in the KAF catalog last week, as I was going through it meticulously, page by page and thinking of all the recipes I wanted to make — then bam! there you were! Two of my favorites, together!

    It was an exciting moment for me. Perhaps I need to get out more.

  43. At first glance I thought maybe these cookie weren’t for me because, frankly, if a cookie doesn’t have chocolate, it’s a hard sell for me. However, you really have me convinced! And maybe I can consider it health food because there’s no butter? Yeah, I’m gonna call it health food.

  44. I’d like to measure my year in the # of belly rubs I gave my cat, the pounds of sugar I went through to bake various treats, the many cups of tea I drank, the # of blog posts I wrote, and, most importantly, the # of times I’ve thought about our bun in the oven.

    :)

  45. I like nutty, citrus-y, spiced not too sweet sweets waaaaaay more than gooey caramel-y chocolate desserts. Plus, it’s easier to rationalize eating them for breakfast! These are being added to my Christmas cookie baking list.

  46. My MIL used to go through a #10 can of almond paste every Christmas. Gotta do these, in her memory, notwithstanding my love of cookies!

  47. Joy – these sound amazing! One concern though, I recently made an all almond cookie (almendrados). They were glorious the first day out of the oven. I left them oven night in an airtight container and they got so hard the next day! Hard like a biscotti, still wonderfully delicious, just hard. Do these guys stay soft and dreamy?

  48. This is hilarious. I’m sure I have a list like this as well filled with words I had to look up even though I just looked them up within the past hour, how many times I ate bread and brie because I didn’t feel like cooking, or how many times I managed to lose track of time while waiting for cookies to come out of the oven…

    Maybe I’ll go lose track of more time with these cookies!

  49. Sound lovely – thank you!

    Anyone have any suggestions for replacing the orange? I can have lemon or lime, but not other citrus. Do they need it, or would they be wonderful without any zest?

    Thanks!

  50. I’ve been freaking out for about 4 days now because my neighbors are all lit up with Christmas lights and it’s only November!! It’s really stressing me out. Why are they all going so fast???!!! These cookies look like Christmas… straight up and down. But in the really awesomely good way. Not the Christmas lights on November 9th kind of way.

  51. So good. I’m addicted to the flavor of almonds in baked goods and I love it when the boulangeries here sneak some into the crust of a tart, or into a croissant with some caramel and powdered sugar. These look like heaven!

  52. Joy, this post absolutely made my week. I was sitting here. Quietly. Trying to kick a bout of depression. I saw your post and figured “I should read Joy’s post to cheer me up” and there sat the words “gluten-free” describing these amazing-looking cookies! Now, I’m sure this post wasn’t just for me (I commented on your last post about my Husband with celiac disease) but it really, really felt like it. I needed this… I needed to read your beautiful words and to see these amazing cookies. Tears welled up in my eyes and I knew that – with these cookies, which seem like a gift from you – tomorrow will be SO much better. Brighter. Thank you so much for being here, Joy. You’re a lovely, lovely woman.

  53. Love the cookies and love the bit about November. Yes, the year has gone fast and before you know it Christmas will be here and I for one am never prepared for the rush, but I do enjoy it. Especially baking cookies and listening to Rosemary Clooney while sugar and flour coat the kitchen floor. Paulette

  54. Joy these cookies sound great – love the name of them. Cloud cookies. And with vanilla. And orange. NICE! And yes, please share more about your time at King Arthur if you can – would love to hear about it!

    1. I believe marzipan has more sugar in it than almond paste. Not sure if you can substitute measure for measure. Maybe someone else out there has that information.

      1. Marzipan is a 60:40 ratio sugar to almonds, while Almond Paste is a 50:50 ratio. You need to decrease the sugar in the recipe by weighing your marzipan and decreasing the sugar in the recipe by 10% of that weight.

        1. PS: If you have almond flour, add back that 10% weight as almond flour and your ratios will be right for almond paste.

  55. These cookies sound like an absolute dream; food always seems so heavy at this time of year and I love the idea of this light & bright citrussy cookies.

  56. oh yum !
    i just finished my dinner of fries and brown butter bourbon blondies,
    because of the many things you have taught me joy its that potatoes are a vegetable (so its totally okay to have fries for dinner) and that bourbon should be considered a major food group… i cherish your knowledge :)
    soooooo, can i still have these cookies for desert?
    (please say yes !)

  57. Hi Joy,

    These cookies grabbed my attention when I was doing my morning cereal flick through my bookmarks but I was just wondering what almond paste is? I’m English (or British as Americans seem to like to call us…) and I’ve never seen that here before – is it the same as marzipan?

    Cheers :) Hope the weather’s nicer in your parts than it is here in Oxford at the moment!
    x

    1. Marzipan is not the same as almond paste- there’s a higher sugar to almonds ratio. It can also contain whipped egg whites and or glycerin.
      You can find recipes to make your own almond paste too. Most commonly in the states, I’ve found almond paste in a can or a tube.
      Hope that helps.

      Christine

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