These soft, sugary Almond Meltaway Cookies are so light, they literally melt in your mouth. The simple almond glaze on top is the perfect finishing touch. Just one bite, and you’ll be hooked!
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(Oh, and by the way – meltaway cookies aren’t just about almonds! If you like the look of these, check out my Lemon Meltaway Cookies, Vanilla Meltaway Cookies, and Coconut Meltaway Cookies, too.)
Easy Almond Meltaway Cookies
Just like the name suggests, these cookies quite literally “meltaway” in your mouth! Meltaway cookies are a bit like a shortbread cookie, topped with a light layer of icing. But instead of being firm and dense like shortbread, they’re super soft, with a delicate, fine crumb that packs a buttery, almond-scented punch.
For anyone in your life who has a sweet tooth, these would make the perfect treat. Even if that person is you! They’re great for cookie swaps and Christmas cookies, too. And if you’re hosting a tea party for the littles in your life, elegant-yet-cozy almond meltaway cookies are pretty much required!
What You’ll Need
With their sugary almond icing and soft almond centers, these meltaway cookies naturally have one ingredient that’s the star: almond (extract, that is)! Here’s everything you’ll need:
For the Almond Cookies:
- All-Purpose Flour: I’ve found that regular all-purpose flour works the best for these cookies in terms of texture.
- Baking Powder: For leavening.
- Flaked Sea Salt: I love the more mild saltiness of sea salt flakes, like Maldon salt or similar, for this recipe. However, you can substitute regular table salt if it’s what you have available.
- Butter: Unsalted, at room temperature. Opt for unsalted butter since there’s already salt in the recipe. This will still give these cookies all the buttery flavor without the extra saltiness!
- Sugar: Regular granulated white sugar is best.
- Egg: A single large egg for richness and texture.
- Almond Extract: This is where quality is key! I like this brand of almond extract because it has a great aroma and flavor.
For the Almond Icing:
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar.
- Milk: Milk gives the icing a certain creaminess, but you can also use water instead.
- Almond Extract
Is Almond Extract Actually Made from Almonds?
Since almond extract gives these cookies their special flavor, you really benefit from using a good-quality extract that’s made from real almonds. Because some extracts are made from other ingredients, as it turns out.
Imitation almond extracts contain the same flavor “chemicals” that almonds do, but the quality and taste is not as good, because those compounds are either synthetic (made in a lab) or taken from other ingredients like peach pits. Look on the bottle for “bitter almond oil.” That’s how you know your extract is the real deal.
How to Make Almond Meltaway Cookies
The most blissful thing about these meltaway cookies, aside from how heavenly the flavor and texture is? How easy they are to make!
- Make the Dough: Whisk together the flour and dry ingredients in one bowl. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar, and add in the egg and almond extract. Gradually add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, about a half cup at a time, until everything is incorporated.
- Roll Out the Dough: Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and then gently press them into a disc shape. You can do this with your hands, or I like to use the bottom of a glass to get a more uniform shape. Place your dough discs onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake: Bake the cookies in a 375°F oven for about 8 minutes. Note that the cookies will not look browned when they’re done baking, but don’t leave them in longer! Once they’re out of the oven, the cookies will set up as they rest on the baking sheet.
- Ice the Cookies: When your cookies are completely cool, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth. Use a spoon to carefully spread the icing over each cookie. Give the icing about ten minutes or so to harden.
Tips for Success
Cookie baking is fun, especially when you have a few helpful tips and tricks up your sleeve! These are my top tips for perfect almond meltaway cookies.
- Measure the Flour Correctly: If you don’t have a kitchen scale, you can use the spoon and sweep method to get the most accurate measurement. Instead of using your measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the bag, spoon the flour into the measuring cup, and then level it off with a knife.
- Don’t Over-Bake: These cookies will not look particularly “done” when they come out of the oven. That’s exactly what they should look like! Avoid over-baking these cookies as they’ll quickly dry out and become crumbly.
- Get the Icing Right: Aim for a consistency that’s thin enough to spread and settle, but not overly runny. To thicken icing that’s too thin, add extra powdered sugar. You can also add extra milk if the icing is too thick.
- Try Different Variations: To me, a perfectly simple cookie is the best, and that’s exactly what these are! But you can definitely have a little fun with your meltaway cookies to suit any occasion. Top them with toasted almond slivers or sprinkles, or add food coloring to the frosting for a pop of color.
How to Store These Cookies
Since the icing contains dairy, keep your almond meltaway cookies stored airtight in the fridge. They’ll keep for up to 2 weeks! Just take the cookies out of the fridge to come to room temperature again before serving.
Can I Freeze Them?
You can freeze these cookies for up to 3 months. Store them in an airtight container and use parchment paper to separate the layers.
Almond Meltaway Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
For the Almond Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, or sub water
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and almond extract, mixing until combined. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until completely combined.
- Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into small circles and then press with hands (or with the bottom of a cup) into a disk shape. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will not look browned or cooked, but they are! Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To Ice: In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and almond extract – until smooth. If your icing is too thick, add a splash more milk to thin it out.
- Using a spoon, smooth icing onto the top of each cookie and let set for 10 minutes, or until hardened. Store in the fridge, let come to room temperature when ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Categories:
More Cookie Recipes to Try
- Easy Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Key Lime Cookies
- Coconut Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
- Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Copycat Lofthouse Cookies
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The family loved these! Brought them to my parents’ house for our New Years Eve celebration. Mom asked if they were store-bought lol! Definitely making these a Christmas/NYE tradition.
These are our new favorite Christmas cookie! I recommend using amaretto/amaretto extract in place of the almond. It gives them a delicious, marzipan flavor! I also like browning my butter when I bake cookies. I saw other people say their dough was sticky – mine were easy to roll out and flatten since they were more wet vs sticky. Lastly, I added almonds in the batter and on top as decoration which was a big hit!
I love amaretto – I will have to give this a try! Glad you enjoyed them Isabel!
These cookies are amazing! This is my second year making them. I love the almond flavor and the cookie is the perfect consistency, as well as the icing. If you don’t like almond flavoring, just add it to the cookie and not the icing. You can put vanilla in the icing. 10/10 for me.
So good! Chewy and delicious
Can the dough be frozen to bake when needed?
Hi Jill! Yes you can, but because the dough needs to be flattened into disks before baking, you will need to freeze the dough all together (not pre-scooped). Then let the dough thaw completely in the fridge, for about 24 hours, before scooping and baking it as directed!
These are amazing!! I tweaked the recipe a little bit to make them gluten free, and added matcha powder to change things up. They turned out a little more dry (from the gluten-free flour, probably), but they’re still five stars for me!
These were just okay – very much like a shortbread cookie, not quite a ‘meltaway’.
I followed directions exactly as given, but I wasn’t real keen on the glaze/ frosting. A little to sugary for our tastes – seems to overwhelm the subtle almond of the cookie.
I may try to tweak it a bit..
Great recipe. If anyone is concerned because of nut allergies, I use IMITATION almond extract.
I made these cookies for a party and they were literally gone in a min and I made 3 dozen. I will be making these again and again!
These cookies turned out great. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, this cookie is absolutely delicious!!!! It’s so easy. It has become my families favorite cookie. HANDS DOWN.
Love love these cookies. So easy to make however I made them today and they turned out flat! What did I do wrong? I went over all of my ingredients again and I did everything correctly. The only thing I changed is I used unsalted butter like the recipe said instead of salted butter like I would usually use.
Hi Jo Anna! Hmm, my guess would be your baking powder might have gone bad? To check if your baking powder is still active, pour 1/4 cup boiling water over 1/2 tsp baking powder. If it bubbles/foams, it’s still good. If not, it’s gone bad. Using unsalted or salted butter shouldn’t change anything texturally!
I saw lots of comments that the dough was too sticky to press into a round disc. Mine was the same way so I just dipped the bottom of my glass into flour and then pressed. Came out great!
Possibly there should be a step in there to chill the dough thoroughly before making it into little bowls and baking it. The dough is very sticky, but I didn’t change it because I wanted to see the original results before I made changes. At eight minutes all the edges were very browned because the dough had spread so much. might also need more flour possibly. Taste is very good. They are very light, sweet cookies.
I can’t press down on them – way too sticky, the dough comes right off onto the glass. It’s more like a really solid brownie batter texture. I can’t even roll the dough into a ball, it just ends up all over my hands. I even refrigerated the dough for an hour. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a T. How are they supposed to turn out so perfectly round? The dough tastes right, but I can’t even form the cookies. I’m so frustrated.
Hmm. It is a softer dough, but it should not be that sticky. Did you for sure use 2 cups of all purpose flour and 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter?
1
Oh my, i just made this cookie. SO VERY GOOD!!! Lemon next time.
Thank you for sharing….
Hi! I’m not sure why, but following your recipe and using a one tablespoon cookie scoop, I ended up with almost 60 cookies. Were they supposed to be 2 tablespoons scoops?
They’re in the oven now and I’m just waiting for them to finish. I’m really excited!
So i decided to weight it out cuz its not exact, i got about 22.5 grams for my batch rn, my last i didnt weight and it did ot get the right amount either
These were so simple to whip together, but I found the rolling out and flattening to be quite difficult. Then I went back and read all the reviews. Now I highly recommend their suggestions to:
Put the dough in the refrigerator for ten minutes if the dough is sticky.
Roll the balls and put them directly onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. Cover with 2nd sheet of parchment paper. Press them down with a glass, and then remove the sheet covering the tops of the cookies.
My rolled balls were about 1” in diameter, pressed to 2” discs, which grew to 3” cookies in oven. However that only produced 24 cookies. I also had to add 2 minutes to the cooking time.
Good morning,
Can I use applesauce instead of butter?
I would not recommend that swap in these cookies, while it works well in cake, it would create a very different texture in these cookies.
Can these be made with gluten free flour. I noticed the inquiry above but there was no response.
Hi Deborah! I apologize, but I am not well versed in gluten free baking. I am a traditional baker. For guaranteed success, I would recommend googling a gluten free almond cookie recipe. I apologize that I am not more help, but I don’t want to steer you wrong and you not have success.
Yes, I make these all the time with gluten free all-purpose flour.
I added a bit more almond…but WOW! These are great! My friends and family gobbled them up!
Did not have good luck I made the cookies and they turned out almost raw and I cooked for 9 min
I would check your oven temperature or did you possibly use more dough then directed in the recipe?