Tiramisu Drops

Christmas did not feel quite like Christmas. My brother wasn't here and that made me feel like it wasn't really Christmas because my family wasn't together, but I guess that is part of growing up and moving on with life. Not always having my family together for major holidays. However I did get some good gifts like a mini cupcake maker, a doughnut maker and a soda maker, so I know my family and friends love when I make things otherwise they wouldn't buy me makers. I also got three cookbooks, one as a joke, but still has recipes. I also got 1500 count sheets and a bed pad warmer which makes my bed warm before I even get into it, both of these combined make my bed awesome. And some other odds and ends that I got that I'm not going to ramble on about, but one of the things that I gave were these cookies that I made. I got the recipe out of the Denver Post or whatever the newspaper is called. And of course I had to change it some because that is just what I do. The cookies were a quite dry and could be changed so it is better. Like I had a hard time trying to make balls out of the dough so I added milk to them so that they would stick together better. I also added Kaluha to the filling so that I was a little bit closer to an actual tiramisu.

Tiramisu Drops

Ingredients

1 cup slivered blanched almonds, lightly toasted

½ cup sugar

¾ cup butter room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder

¼ tsp salt

1 ¾ cup ap flour

1 tub mascarpone cheese (8oz)

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Directions

Heat oven to 350 F, line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse together the almonds and sugar until finely ground but not reduced to a paste. Add the butter and vanilla, then pulse to incorporate. Add the espresso or coffee, salt and flour, and pulse until a crumbly dough comes together. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place on the baking sheets. Using your finger, or the handle of a wooden spoon, press an indent into the top of each cookie. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and firm. Allow to cool on the baking sheet. When the cookies are cool, in a medium bowl stir together the mascarpone and 2 tablespoons of the powdered sugar. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag or a zip-close plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe a dollop of the filling into the indent of each cookie. Sift the remaining tablespoon of powdered sugar with the cocoa powder. Sift over the tops of the cookies. Decorate with shave chocolate if desired.