Toffee Almond Sandies
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Buttery, sweet toffee almond sandies — humble in appearance but wonderfully good.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
These toffee almond sandies were sent to me by Kelly Pittman, along with hundreds of others, for a holiday cookie contest I ran on my blog many years ago. The cookies not only won my contest, they also became a much-loved Segal family favorite. While the cookies may look plain, when you bite into them, you discover a buttery, sweet shortbread studded with melted toffee bits and crunchy almonds. They’re wonderfully good, easy to make, and long lasting. In other words, the perfect holiday cookie.
Heads up: This recipe makes a ton! It is ideal for a bake sale or gift giving, but if you’d like to make less, the recipe can easily be halved.
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Toffee Almond Sandies
Buttery, sweet toffee almond sandies — humble in appearance but wonderfully good.
Ingredients
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling the cookies
- 1 cup Confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
- 6 ounces (or 1 heaping cup) English toffee bits
Instructions
- Set racks in middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a medium bowl; mix well.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and Confectioners’ sugar until well combined, about 1-2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula, then add oil, eggs and almond extract; mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix slowly to combine. Stir in almonds and toffee bits.
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls, roll in sugar, then place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets and flatten with a fork. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through cooking, for 14-17 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. These keep nicely for 4 to 5 ays stored in airtight container at room temperature.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The Cookie Dough can be Frozen for up to 3 Months: Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To Freeze After Baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (45 servings)
- Serving size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 201
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Sugar: 10 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 89 mg
- Cholesterol: 23 g
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Trisha Yearwood makes a wonderful chocolate orange cake. Perhaps you could work your majic on it?
Hi Jodi, Thanks for the suggestion as I’m always looking for new inspiration! I’ll add it to my list of recipes to potentially develop.
Hi Jenn, I just made a comment about the Toffee Almond Sandies and forgot to mention the cook time is 12-14 minutes.
I hosted my first cookie swap in December and was looking for an easy, big batch kind of cookie. When I came across this recipe, I knew I had found what I was looking for. They even had a holiday sparkle! I altered the recipe slightly as follows. The granulated sugar was replaced with 200 grams of pure maple sugar(about 1-1/2 to 1-3/3 cups). The almonds were replaced with 2 cups of chopped pecans and in place of the almond extract, used vanilla extract as I couldn’t find pure maple extract. I did roll then in granulated sugar before baking as the original recipe indicated. I lowered the oven temperature to 325F. These are beautiful and absolutely delicious cookies with the subtle maple flavour and the bonus is they are so easy to whip up.
King Arthur Flour has pure Maple Extract.
I made 14 dozen of these cookies as Christmas gifts and another 6 dozen for my family and myself. I followed the recipe exactly, except that in the first batch I did not use almond extract because I’d run out of it. I substituted vanilla. For the second batch I used almond extract. The almond flavoring makes a world of difference, so delicious. The vanilla was good too but the cookies were more bland. Also, I found that using a half tablespoon measuring spoon worked perfectly to scoop just the right amount of dough. I’ll make this again!
Thanks for the scoop size reference!
These cookies are my husband’s all time favorite! Melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness in every bite.
Thanks for such a great recipe (all of you recipes are wonderful)!
Every recipe I’ve made from your web is 5Star. just want to know if l can add sunflower seeds. I can’t find a recipe for sunflower seed cookies. Does whole wheat flour make a difference instead of all white flour? Thanks for sharing your recipes. All of us in BC Canada love you. Thanks
Hi Violet, So glad you enjoy the recipes! I do think you could add sunflower seeds to these, and regarding the flour, you could try these with white whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur brand) but the taste will definitely be different. I’d love to hear how they turn out with these changes!
This was such an easy cookie to make with a wonderful crisp cookie. I made this cookie last weekend with my sisters. We all gave it 5 stars!
how do you chop/process the toffee bits? Should I use a food processer?
Hi Patty, I buy the toffee bits packaged but, yes, a few pulses in a food processor should work. Enjoy!
Can i crush heath bars to replace the toffee nibs?
Hi Sara, I think it would work but the chocolate will change the flavor the bit.
These are really delicious, I wish I had cut the recipe in half I would make them again but not so many Thanks