Almond Bar Cookies

These have been in our Christmas repertoire for years, and the whole family loves them. I make the recipe as written and have never been disappointed. Our local store only carries the almond paste in a foil tube -- it works perfectly. I wouldn't bring these to a cookie swap though; they'd be better than everything else and I'd want to take them home with me.

• ffran

• VT

• 1/14/2019

This is my favorite cookie recipe and always popular with other people. As for the mixed reviews, I've found that the almond paste makes a big difference. I consistently use Solo 100% almond paste. My grocery store used to always carry this with the pie filling. Recently, they changed to only the cake almond filling, which includes corn syrup, sugar and more ingredients I don't need. Asked if they would order the pure almond paste and they did.

• roaryf

• 12/5/2018

These are fabulous! Usually I read all the reviews before I start a recipe, and adjust to suit my taste. I'm glad I didn't on this one! I doubled the recipe and baked in a 9x13 pan - other than that, I followed the recipe exactly as written. I brought them to a family gathering and they received rave reviews. The almond paste I used was in a foil wrapped tube - I don't know if that made a difference. The bars are very sweet and definitely should be cut small. I did find them a bit sweet, but no one else did. I might cut the sugar back a bit the next time, but not by much.

• A cook in Arlington, VA

• Arlington, VA

• 9/23/2018

Delicious and very moist with intense almond flavour. Freezes beautifully also.

• latter

• Calgary

• 2/13/2016

Proportions are wrong.

• chaan1

• Bethesda, MD

• 9/10/2013

There are many better almond cookie recipes out there. This one is greasy, even with the extra flour recommended by reviewers. I wouldn't waste my time or ingredients on this one.

• Anonymous

• Rhinebeck, NY

• 5/25/2013

I modified the recipe: Instead of the canned almond paste (who has that laying around?) I weighted out 5 oz slivered almonds and ground them fine in spice grinder (which was way more than 1/2 cup), only 1 stick of unsalted butter and everything else as listed. I rolled them into golfball sized balls, pressed down with a fork, sprinkled with more slivered almonds, and baked as regular cookies rather than bar cookies.

• Anonymous

• 2/23/2013

AWESOME. I didn't want to go on a quest for expensive almond paste at the store so I made some from scratch (easier than I expected!) and proceeded with the recipe. Going to be making these over and over again.

• katastrophe

• Washington, DC

• 12/20/2012

I've been making these since 2004 when they first appeared in the magazine and they are now my "signature cookie" that I am known for...although I have adapted the recipe. I use almond filling, which is sweet, so I do not add extra sugar. I use raw sliced almonds on top, so these turn out beautifully. The first time I made these, they were a sloppy mess, so I did have to modify these quite a bit. The recipe as is has too much butter and is greasy. I also now use a disposable pan when I make these, so I can pull it off easily and cut the bars versus greasing the tin foil, etc...the smell of your house while making these makes them worth the effort!

• etray19

• Chicago

• 12/9/2012

3/4杯黄油和这个还是油腻。米y "Batter" was a chocolate chip cookie dough consistency.I patted it into the pan and baked for 38 minutes,let cool for one hour. The almond flavor was medium,the greasy consistency ruined the whole "bar".It left my mouth feeling like it had been coated with lard. I lined the pan with foil "handles" and then lined the foil with parchment.The bar came out of the pan with no problem.

• 米onkeytales

• wisconsin

• 3/24/2012

This is a four forks recipe with some adaptations. As suggested by another reviewer, I increased the flour to 1 1/2 c., used exactly 4 oz of almond paste and reduced butter to 3/4 cup. I used the amount of almond extract as recommended. I didn't make them as bars. Another reviewer recommended baking the recipe as individual thumbprint cookies which I did and they came out unbelievable.Filled them with apricot and raspberry preserves. After they cooled, I drizzled white chocolate over the ones filled with raspberry. Took them to a party....they were gone within minutes. Definitely a keeper. I wouldn't make these as bars.

• daylilies

• 7/8/2011

Because I read 2 pages of reviews for this recipe, I read through it carefully before I started. And, like another baker, I don't like using ingredients that I have to special order. I actually didn't even have almond paste on hand--I had almond filling, which I'd bought at the grocery store, so I used that. I increased the flour to 2 cups, but used the same amount of butter. I decreased sugar to 1/4 cup, since the filling is sweetened. I wasn't happy with the consistency--they were done, but seemed more like banana bread than cookies or a bar. So I cooked it for about an hour on a low temp to get the consistency I wanted. I will definitely make these again--they're fantastic! We can't stay away from them! But I would increase the flour.

• 米arcyEats

• 12/30/2010

These sound so good and fairly easy to make but why have a recipe with an ingredient (almond paste) that can not be found readily at a local supermarket?

• shelotx

• Texas

• 11/15/2010

These are awesome! I used 1 1/4 sticks of butter instead of the full 2 and this last time used pecans on top with great results. No almond extract needed. plenty of flavor! rich & delicious.

• gotthemeyes

• 4/28/2010

Disgusting, greasy sugary mess with almonds on top I'm a decent baker. I suppose if you fooled around with the proportions enough it could be improved but why waste your time...

• pculbert

• Chicago, IL

• 2/20/2010