Last week, I made the ugliest batch of cookies I’ve ever seen.

Which is unfortunate, considering I was at work.

I occasionally get the chance to create specialty items at my pastry job, and I decided to make one of my favorite cookies–almond croissant cookies.

I’ve made these cookies at home several times, and they’ve become one of my favorites. They’re soft, packed with almond flavor, stuffed with an almond filling, topped with sliced almonds, and finished with powdered sugar.

Basically, everything I love about an almond croissant shoved into cookie form.

More importantly, I’d made them before. I knew they worked.

So naturally, the first time I decided to make a giant batch of them at work, they completely betrayed me.

Except…they didn’t.

I betrayed them.

I got busy. I got sidetracked. And somewhere between everything else I was doing, I portioned my cookies, put them on the sheet pans, and popped them straight into the oven.

You know what I didn’t do?

Chill them.

The step I knew I was supposed to do.

And almost immediately, I watched my beautiful little cookies spread…and spread…and spread.

By the time they were finished, they had basically merged together across the sheet pans.

Not ideal.

The worst part was that they still tasted really good. They just looked absolutely nothing like the cookies I’d made at home.

Now, if this had happened in my own kitchen, this story probably would’ve ended right here. I would’ve gotten mad, thrown them in the trash, and decided cookies were stupid anyway.

But I wasn’t at home.

I was at work, I had roughly five and a half pounds of perfectly edible failed cookies sitting in front of me, and throwing all of that away wasn’t exactly Plan A.

So I had to figure something out.

I let the cookies cool, broke them apart, and threw all 2,500 grams of them into the food processor.

(Yes, I weighed them.)

I’d followed someone on TikTok for years who I’d seen turn baked goods into cookie butter before. I’d never actually tried making cookie butter myself, but at this point I figured…what the hell? I couldn’t exactly make the situation much worse.

So I started experimenting.

A little butter. A little sugar. A lot of hoping for the best.

And somehow, my five and a half pounds of failed almond croissant cookies turned into this thick, creamy almond croissant cookie butter.

Which immediately gave me another idea.

Because apparently turning cookies into cookie butter wasn’t enough, I portioned it into little pucks, froze them, and stuffed them inside an entirely different cookie.

And somehow, my disaster had turned into a brand-new dessert.

But that is a recipe for another day.

For now, I figured we should start with the cookies that cause this whole mess–and, more importantly, how to make them the way they’re actually supposed to turn out. So learn from my mistakes:

Chill. Your. Cookies.

Almond Croissant Cookies

Soft almond sugar cookies stuffed with a rich almond filling, topped with sliced almonds and finished with powdered sugar.

Yield: About 12-14 large cookies
Oven: 350°F
Chill Time: At least 30 minutes
Bake Time: About 13-16 minutes

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the Almond Filling

• 2 cups almond flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

For Finishing

• Sliced Almonds
• Powdered Sugar

Make the Almond Filling

Combine the almond flour and granulated sugar in a bowl.

Add the egg, melted butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined and a thick filling forms.

Portion the filling into approximately 1 tablespoon portions and roll into balls. Push down slightly.

Place the filling in the refrigerator or freezer while you make the cookie dough. Keeping it cold will make the cookies much easier to assemble.

Make the Cookie Dough

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar until light and well combined.

Add the egg and egg yolk, followed by the almond and vanilla extracts. Mix until smooth.

Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix just until a soft dough forms. Don’t overmix.

Assemble the Cookie

Scoop approximately ¼ cup of cookie dough for each cookie.

Flatten the dough slightly in your palm and place 1 tablespoon of chilled almond filling in the center.

Bring the dough up and around the filling until it’s completely enclosed, then gently roll it into a ball.

Press sliced almonds onto the top of each cookie and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.

And now for the step that inspired this entire blog post:

Put them in the refrigerator.

Chill the assembled cookies for at least 30 minutes.

Seriously.

Go fold some laundry. Read a chapter of your book. Question your life choices.

Just don’t put them straight into the oven.

Bake the Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Arrange the chilled cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving a few inches between them.

Bake for approximately 13-16 minutes, or until the edges are set and just beginning to turn lightly golden. The centers should still look slightly soft.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Once completely cooled, dust generously with powdered sugar.

Mise Notes

Chilling isn’t optional. I have approximately five and a half pounds of evidence supporting this statement.

Watch the cookies, not just the clock. Every oven is a little different. Look for lightly golden, set edges with centers that still appear slightly soft.

Keep the filling cold. It’s much easier to completely wrap in the dough when it’s firm.

Don’t overmix the dough. Once the flour goes in, mix only until everything comes together.

Go easy on the almond extract. Almond extract goes from almond croissant to why does this taste like a candle? surprisingly fast.

Wait on the powdered sugar. Let the cookies cool completely before dusting them so the sugar stays pretty instead of melting into the tops.

And if you do forget to chill them and find yourself staring at a sheet pan full of ugly–but delicious–cookies?

Don’t throw them away just yet.

Apparently, they make pretty damn good cookie butter.

But that’s a recipe for another day.

–Mise