Lemon Cats' Paws
Submitted by peggyann
Lemon cats’ paw cookies piped from almond dough with lemon zest and vanilla, sandwiched and dipped in dark chocolate. An elegant bakery-style cookie worth the effort.
YIELD
3 dozenPREP
45 minCOOK
15 minREADY
60 minThese piped almond cookies are a project, but the result is something you’d expect from a Parisian patisserie. The dough is built in a food processor: ground almonds blended with flour, two sugars, butter, egg, vanilla, and fresh lemon zest. It pipes through a star tip into tiny paw shapes that bake into crisp, buttery bites.
Processing the almonds with the flour first is a smart technique. It grinds them fine without turning them into almond butter, and the flour absorbs the oils as they release. That almond-flour base gives the cookie a delicate, sandy texture that all-butter doughs can’t match on their own.
Chilling is built into every stage. Cold baking sheets, cold butter, chilled dough before baking. The butter needs to stay firm so the piped shapes hold their form in the oven instead of spreading into blobs. If the dough softens while you’re piping, refrigerate the pastry bag for a few minutes.
After baking, half the cookies get a thin coat of dark chocolate on the flat side, then sandwiched together. The pointed tips get dipped in chocolate too for a polished, two-toned finish.
Pro Tips
- Open the teeth on the star tip slightly before piping. Almond particles clog a tight tip and create uneven paws.
- Turn the baking sheet halfway through for even browning. These cookies are small and the edges can darken fast.
- Transfer cookies off the sheet immediately. They harden quickly and will crack if you try to move them once cooled.
- Tempered chocolate stores at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. Melted (untempered) chocolate needs refrigeration.
Variations
- Orange version: Replace lemon zest with orange zest and use orange-flavored dark chocolate for dipping.
- Hazelnut base: Swap almonds for hazelnuts and add a pinch of espresso powder to the dough for a mocha-hazelnut twist.
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cookie dough:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375℉ (190℃).
Put three heavy, large ungreased baking sheets in the refrigerator.
In a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade, process the almonds with 1 cup of the flour for 30 to 45 seconds, or until the mixture is ground to a fine powder.
Add the remaining 1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour; granulated sugar confectioners’ sugar and salt.
Process for 10 to 15 seconds, or until the mixture is thoroughly blended.
Evenly distribute the butter cubes in a circle around the chopping blade.
Add the egg, vanilla and lemon zest.
Process for 45 to 60 seconds, or until the mixture is creamy.
Make sure that the butter is completely blended into the batter.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a closed star tip (such as Ateco #6).
Slightly open the teeth on the end of the pastry tip so that any small nut particles do not get caught between the points as you pipe.
Remove a chilled baking sheet from the refrigerator.
Starting at the left-hand side of the midsection of the baking sheet, pipe 1½-inch long cats’ paws about 2 inches apart, across the center of the baking sheet.
This will enable you to pipe straight and even lines across the baking sheet.
Continue piping until the bottom half of the baking sheet is covered with piped cookies.
Turn the baking sheet 180 degrees and continue piping cats’ paws onto the other half of the baking sheet.
Refrigerate the baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the piped cookie dough is firm.
Pipe the rest of the cookie dough onto the remaining chilled baking sheets and refrigerate.
Bake the cookies one baking sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes.
Turn the baking sheet halfway through baking for even browning.
Using a metal pancake spatula, immediately transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.
Assemble the cookies:
Melt the dark chocolate temper the chocolate.
Scrape the chocolate mixture into a small heatproof bowl.
Place the bowl of chocolate over a smaller bowl of warm (86 degrees F to 90 degrees F) water.
Using a small metal cake spatula, coat the flat side of half of cookies with a thin layer of melted or tempered chocolate.
Top each chocolate-coated cookie half with a second cookie.
Place the cookies on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes or until the chocolate is set.
Dip the pointed tips of the cookies halfway into the melted or tempered chocolate.
Place the cookies back onto the waxed paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chocolate is set.
Store the cookies dipped in melted chocolate in a airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
The cookies filled with tempered chocolate may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three weeks.
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