Christmas Cookies - Three of Four - Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

I love me some Barefoot Contessa despite how awkward she often appears in front of the camera. I was fortunate to catch an episode in which she had Kathleen King on to make her Double Chocolate Almond Cookies. If you’ve been following my Christmas cookie blog series this will be familiar: “Mmm almond.” I do love the taste of almond, adding chocolate to the mix just led to a no brainer for the great 2011 Christmas bake-off. These puppies will not disappoint. They are packed with almond deliciousness, semisweet and white chocolate chips. My one take away from the experience is that I need to add one of those cookie scoopers to my kitchen arsenal so that my cookies are as beautiful as the Barefoot Contessa’s and Kathleen King’s.

Double Chocolate Almond Cookies from Kathleen King

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup almonds, chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined.

Add the chocolates and almonds and mix until combined. Using two tablespoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets. The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.