Chinese Almond Cookies - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups shelled almonds, blanched, then ground
1/3 cup butter, softened
24 -36 small roasted almonds

Preparation

Sift rice flour and sugar together. Mix with the almonds. Work the butter smoothly into the mixture. Add a few drops of water if needed to hold the dough together.
Shape into small balls and place on greased cookie sheet, leaving plenty of space around each cookie. Press an almond into the top of each one. Bake in a moderate oven (350 F) about 15 minutes, or till golden brown.
.
To blanch almonds-.
Place almonds in a bowl.
Pour boiling water to barely cover almonds.
Let the almonds sit for 1 minute and no longer.
Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again.
Pat dry and slip the skins off.
(Don't let almonds sit in hot water too long or they will lose their crispness).
.
To roast almonds-.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread nuts in one layer on ungreased shallow baking pan.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden.