Christmas Ideas

I am posting this recipe because it is yummy, easy and will look great done up all Martha Stewartish to give as a Christmas gift. I will be giving these to friends and family this year, along with homemade fudge, and a few other treats from my kitchen.

Fregolata Cookie recipe

^{COOKIE CRUMBLES (FREGOLATA)}

Makes 12 servings

This recipe is adapted from Lidia's Italy.

2 tablespoons soft butter for the pans 6 ounces (about 1 ¼ cups) whole unblanched almonds, toasted

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt 3 large egg yolks

6 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more if needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Assemble two springform pans and butter the bottom discs and about an inch up the sides.

Set aside 2 or 3 whole almonds. Chop the rest coarsely into chunks the size of chocolate chips. Stir the flour, sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl, and toss in the chopped almonds.

Beat the yolks together briefly. Drizzle over the dry ingredients. Toss with a fork to blend. Drizzle the cream over by the tablespoonful, tossing and stirring to moisten the nut mixture evenly. It should be crumbly but not floury. Add a small amount more cream if necessary.

Pour half of the crumb mixture into each buttered cake pan. Spread and press the crumbs down lightly in an even, thick layer, covering the bottom of the pan.

Bake about 25 minutes or until the cookie rounds are nicely browned and starting to shrink from the sides of the pan.

Cool, then remove the springform sides and bottom disc.

To serve, set the fregolata in front of your guests on the table with one of the reserved whole almonds underneath it. Smack the fregolata in the center with the back of a spoon.

PER SERVING: 244 calories; 5 g protein; 28 g carbohydrates; 2 g fiber; 13 g fat (4 g saturated); 66 mg cholesterol; 54 mg sodium