Croq-Tele (TV Snacks)--Buttery Shortbread Nuggets

Croq-Tele

I really don't have that much time to burn right now, but while I was checking email and blog stats, I saw that Simply Recipes is posting recipes again (Elise Bauer, blog author, said the site was getting updated), so I went clicking around. I found a post about butter, which led me to an awesome New York Times article about butter that mentioned this little treat, Croq-Tele (accents on the e's). The article also had a pic that intrigued me. So I googled "croq-tele" and found At the Baker's Bench, a blog that I will have to visit again. Baker's Bench also mentioned a book that was mentioned in the NY Times article, Field Guide to Cookies. After I finish this post, I think I am going to buy the book on Amazon.
What this cute little free-form cookie tastes like is a little nugget of buttery shortbread perfection. I was suspicious because there's no vanilla in the recipe, but it does not need it. The butter flavor is sufficient to blow you away. I love these things and will make them regularly from this day forward.

Croq-Tele (TV Snacks)
     --adapted from At the Baker's Bench who adapted it from Field Guide to Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour/meal*
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 7 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, stir almond flour, sugar, and salt.
Beat flour and cold butter until mixture turns sandy in texture. Add almond/sugar/salt mixture and beat until small clumps form. (I had to turn off my mixer and scrape the sides to see that it was clumping.)
Use a teaspoon to scoop out small balls of dough. Pinch the dough in your hand until it holds together. Place on prepared cookie sheet about an inch apart. 
Bake at 325 degrees for 15-16 minutes, or until tips/edges are browned.
Cool cookies on pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. 
Store in an airtight container or freeze for later consumption.

Makes 8-9 dozen little cookies.

*Note: The recipe on At the Baker's Bench calls for you to take 3/4 cup blanched almonds, lightly toasted, and grind them in a food processor with the sugar and salt. I didn't want to bother with that step, so I used the Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour/Meal that I already had for the almond flour chocolate chip cookies I like to make.