Semolina Almond Cookies

I thought these would be standard snowball/Russian tea cakes/Mexican wedding cookies made with clarified butter and orange flower water. I was wrong - these were delicate, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth almond confections that were anything but standard.

The dough was easy to make though you are cautioned at several points to do things in such a way to promote lightness and tenderness in the cookie, such as folding the flour and ground almonds in gently. And, despite the name, there is no semolina in the recipe, only cake flour. (No explanation is offered).

Once chilled, the dough was easy to handle and shape. The cookies didn't spread much so quite a few fit on the baking sheet at once.

Freshly baked, the cookies had a strong almond flavour that mellowed over time. I couldn't detect the orange flower water so would like to make them with rose water next time.

Equally delicious freshly made or after a few days.