Catherine’s Lion’s Paws
Tunnelmom
Ingredients
blanched slivered almonds ½ cup
bleached all purpose flour 1 ½ cups
baking powder ½ teaspoon
salt ½ teaspoon
sugar ¼ cup
unsalted butter 6 tablespoons
1 large egg
pure vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
semisweet chocolate chips ½ cup
Topping
sugar ¼ cup
cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon
1 large egg white,lightly beatenPreheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place the almonds on a cookie sheet and bake them, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Cool completely. Turn off the oven.
Soften the butter. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until mixed. Scrap the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a thick disc, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate it at least 1 hour.
Measure 22 level teaspoons of dough for the bottoms. As you shape each piece of dough, knead it by flattening it between your palms and then rolling it into a ball.
Place each ball on the cookie sheet, pressing it to flatten to about a 1/8 inch thickness. Using your fingers, shape the dough into a triangular form with rounded corners, about 2 inches long and 1 ½ inches wide at its widest point. Leave about 1 inch between cookies.
Place three chocolate chips in a row, points down on the wide end of the triangle. Then place 3 more chips, points up, on top of the first three. The chips will be sandwiched in by the top layer of dough. These will make the "knuckles."
For the tops, measure 22 more slightly bigger teaspoons of dough. Shape them like the bottoms but make them a little larger and thicker at the wide end so they will cover the chips. Place over the bottoms, starting at the pointed end of the triangle. Press lightly around the edges to seal. Then using your thumb, press down the dough in the center of the cookie to flatten and shape them to look like paws. Firmly press in four almond slivers between and on either side of the chocolate chips to form the claws.
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.
Brush the top of the cookies lightly with the beaten egg white, and then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. You will have some sugar mixture left.
At least 15 minutes before you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the cookie sheet. Then use a small spatula to move them to wire racks to cool completely..