These delicious and super simple almond cinnamon cookies are the perfect holiday treat. Chewy, delicately spiced, sweet and with a touch of citrus - not to mention vegan and gluten-free!
Topped with a cinnamon-sugar glaze, they are truly out-of-this-world good. Made with only 5 ingredients, the almond cookies can be ready to accompany your cup of tea in less than 30 minutes.
This time of year, I’m baking up a cookie storm. From new recipes to old favourites, I can’t get enough of the warm, sweet goodness that holiday cookies bring! Last week, it was buttery, melt-in-your-mouth lemon crescent cookies, followed by a no-bake version of the classic gingersnap.
Today, I’m excited to share a stupendously easy and scrumptious recipe for almond cookies with cinnamon. As willing as I am to put in some elbow grease for a baking project, sometimes you just need a quick dessert. Something you can throw together and enjoy almost instantly.
That’s just what these are! A simple bake that you can whip up at a moment’s notice. Beautifully flavoured with warm cinnamon spice, nutty almond and sharp citrus, this cookie is a winner. Add to that a soft, chewy interior and slightly browned crisp outside - what’s not to love?
Jump to:
Recipe Ingredients
Almond Meal: Almond meal is simply ground-up almonds.
Typically the distinction between almond meal and almond flour is that the former uses unpeeled almonds while the latter uses blanched and peeled ones. However, feel free to use either in this recipe - I’ve tried it both ways and it was equally tasty each time! I recommend running it through a sieve as you add it to your mixing bowl, to avoid clumps.
Cinnamon: The star (and sole) spice of this recipe is cinnamon. We use a generous amount in the dough - 1 tablespoon. Though you can add more for a stronger flavour, I did not since the glaze also had cinnamon.
Powdered Sugar: You can use either powdered sugar or icing sugar as the sweetener here. I used it sparingly, not wanting the cookies to be too sugary.
While it is a holiday bake, I wanted the flavour of almond, cinnamon and lemon to shine and avoid an overpowering sweetness. Again, you can adjust this ingredient as per preference! I recommend sifting this into the main mixing bowl to avoid sugar clumps.
Salt: Just a pinch of salt here goes a long way! With such strong main flavours in play, you want to make sure they are sharp and well-balanced. I used regular salt here, but sea salt would be good too.
Lemon Juice: Though I only use a little, the addition of fresh lemon juice takes these cookies to the next level! The tanginess balances with the sweetness perfectly.
Water: Our final ingredient is as simple as it gets - 2 tablespoons of water. This helps bring the dough together.
How To Make Almond Cinnamon Cookies
The process is simple - sift together the dry ingredients, blend in the wet ingredients with an electric mixer, form and roll out the dough, cut and bake. No chill time, no extra work. Just mix, bake and eat!
Step 1: Sift together the dry ingredients - almond meal, icing sugar, salt and cinnamon powder.
Step 2: Pour in the wet ingredients - lemon juice and water. Mix them in using an electric mixer. As this dough forms, at this stage, it will be crumbly and rough.
Step 3: At this point, bring the dough together using your hands. Shape the dough together and place it on a well-floured surface.
Step 4: Roll it out to a thickness of approximately 2 cm or thinner if you want a more crisp cookie.
Step 5: Cut out the cookies with any shape cookie cutter you have - keep in mind that this recipe bakes medium-sized cookies so if your cutter is smaller or larger, your bake time may vary.
Step 6: Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, till the cookies are slightly brown. Cool on a wire rack.
How To Serve Almond Cinnamon Cookies
After they have baked, you can enjoy them as is or add a simple topping like a glaze or icing sugar. I opted for a quick cinnamon sugar glaze, that pairs perfectly with the sweetness and flavouring of the cookie. Made by just mixing icing sugar, water and cinnamon powder, this glaze is ready in 5 minutes. Couldn't be easier!
Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
Pro Tips
- If the dough seems too dry, add more water, one tablespoon at a time.
- The cookie dough does feel a bit crumbly, but it does come together nicely. Use your hands to bring the ingredients together to form a dough.
- These cookies bake really fast, just 8-10 minutes. Don't overbake, or else they will be quite hard.
How To Make Almond Meal?
Though it’s available in markets, you can easily make this ingredient at home.
Slice raw almonds - to soak and peel is up to you. Place them in a food processor and blend for about a minute, till you get a fine grain. Sift the almond meal through a sieve and then put the large remaining chunks in the processor again, till you have a uniform finely blended meal. Afterwards, store it in an airtight container - best in a cool, dark place.
📖 Recipe
Almond Cinnamon Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups Almond Meal you can also use almond flour
- 1 cup Icing Sugar you can also use powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon Powder
- pinch of Salt you can also use sea salt
- 2 tbsp Water
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice I like to add 1/4th tbsp more for extra tang
Cinnamon Sugar Glaze (optional)
- 1/4 cup Icing Sugar
- 2 tsp Water
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 C and line two baking trays with parchment paper/Silpat.
- Sift the icing sugar and almond meal into a mixing bowl. Sifting ensures there are no large lumps in the dough and helps maintain an even crumb.
- Add in the cinnamon powder and salt. Mix all the dry ingredients well.
- Pour in the wet ingredients - lemon juice and water. Mix them in using an electric mixer or a whisk. As this dough forms, at this stage, it will be crumbly and rough.
- Once the ingredients are all mixed well and you have a crumbly dough, bring it together by hand.
- Place the shaped dough on a well floured surface. Roll out the dough into a thickness of about 2 cms. You can make this more thin if you want a crisper cookie.
- Cut out the cookies with any cookie cutter of your choice. Keep in mind that this recipe is for a medium-sized cookie, so if yours is larger or smaller, the bake time may vary.
- Bake for 8 - 10 minutes till the cookies slightly brown. Cool on a wire rack.
- For the optional cinnamon glaze - mix cinnamon sugar, water and icing sugar in a small bowl. Add a dollop of the glaze on top of the cooled cookies and spread evenly. Let this set before serving. You can also dust them with sugar or serve unadorned!
- Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
Jess says
These turned out incredibly yummy and I didn’t want to share!!
I will say, though, that the recipe did not yield 30 med sized cookies 2cm thick.
I managed 28 1cm thick cookies using a circle cutter just under 5-cm in diameter. Considering the high cost of the almond flour this was a very expensive, albeit yummy, cookie.
Natasha Minocha says
Oh I'm glad you enjoyed these cookies. Maybe next time you can try a smaller cookie cutter.
These are expensive cookies for sure. Almond flour is expensive! But you could try using homemade almond meal instead. It does work out more economical.
Happy Holidays and Happy Baking! xoxo
Sandra says
Didn`t turn out well for me. No one like them. The wet part was not enough to make it doughy.
Natasha Minocha says
I'm so sorry this recipe didn't work out well for you, Sandra. Thank you very much for trying it out though. I really appreciate your feedback. xx
taruna jain says
Hi
I tried your cookies almond and cinnamon, but mine came out to be too hard and even they were not breaking easily .. it’s more like a rock. What can I do ? What is the reason behind it ?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Taruna, I'm sorry these cookies didn't turn out well for you. But thank you so much for trying the recipe.
Could it be that were baked for a longer period of time? So for most cookies, when you take them out of the oven, they would be slightly soft. And they harden up more as they cool.
Hope this helps.
Sarah Maas says
These are SO easy to make and turn out delicious each time! I used your note and added a little more lemon juice too, was perfect ❤️
Natasha Minocha says
Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback, Sarah! Love the lemony kick! xx
Albertina says
Everyone loved these almond cinnamon cookies and it was very delicious! Definitely making it again. Thanks for all your recipes they are really very good!
Natasha Minocha says
So happy to hear that, Albertina! Your comments really make my day! Wish you and your family Happy Holidays! xx