I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but it resembles your description (except that it's a round cookie, not rectangular). It was my grandma's recipe.

Grandma Ida's Icebox Cookies

1 lb butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
6 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups almonds, chopped

Melt butter; when cold, add dry ingredients, previously mixed. Add eggs, one at a time. Roll and refrigerate overnight. Slice and bake at 450 F for 8 min or 250 F for 15 min.

Sue

thanks sue. i'll try making these tonight and see if it is. do you taste the cinnamon in these, do you recall?

thanks
maryanne

I love baking because you can vary a recipe and, more often than not, if it doesn't turn out the way you expected, it's still good in it's own way.

Since you found a cookie that has the same look but not the same taste, why not try to change it. Omit the nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Add almond extract and either slivered or ground almonds to the batter, and see what happens. Depending on your recipe, you might have to adjust an ingredient in the recipe to compensate for the addition of the ground almonds, or maybe not.

If it's not exactly the same as the cookie you had, but it's still good... you just made yourself a new cookie recipe!

Maryanne, it's been a long time since I've made them, and I don't really remember how cinnamon-y they were, but 2 tsp sounds like a lot (of course, you can do as Khandi suggests, and try varying the amounts of the ingredients). I do remember that Grandma rolled the dough so it had a very narrow diameter, and thus it made zillions of very small cookies. But you could certainly make them larger, maybe even flatten the sides to get a rectangle. Watch them carefully as they bake, so they don't get too brown. Let us know how they turn out!

Sue

Hi MaryAnn: I know EXACTLY the cookies you are referring to from T. Joes; they ARE fabulous. I'd love to have the recipe too. My recollection is almost that they were made from a solid block of dough and then, before baking, cut very thin, probably on some special machine at the manufacturer or perhaps they just used the flat, thin sliced almonds. I just remember the cookies being soooo thin, as were the almonds; I've seen those type of flat, paper-thin almonds at the store. They were not the "slivered" almonds, which are too chunky. You know, it could be that the batter is quite thin, almost pourable, like tweele (egads: can't remember how to spell those) cookies, because with those skinny-thin almonds, I think they would break if you stirred them into a stiff cookie batter. Or, perhaps after pouring the batter, you scatter the almonds across each one. They were almost the color of gingerbread cookies, but didn't taste like them. I do know they were heavy with butter flavor - oh yeah.

arline

Oooh Sue those sound wonderful.
I'm going to copy and print out...
I think I'll make them and dip on the diagonal in chocolate....or drizzle...Yummmm
Thanks!

Here's a similar recipe from Epicurious. It doesn't have any cinnamon at all, but you could add some. I'm posting it because the instructions are a lot more detailed than my Grandma's, and there's a picture, too, of the rectangular cookies. Also, the yield is much smaller.

Terri, the chocolate sounds yummy!

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Epicurious recipe for icebox almond thins

sue, i already have your recipe resting. i just left out the cinnamon. i'd hate to waste a pound of butter having them taste of cinnamon and not what i really want.

arline, yes indeed. those ARE the cookies. they are so addictive. i too was wondering about the almonds. i wondered the same thing about the intgrity of the almonds, but as long as the almonds are there, i'm happy.

i'll report back tomorrow with my results...some of which i might take terri's suggestion and chocolate cover.

sue, thanks again!

maryanne

You're welcome. I had it backwards: I thought you wanted MORE cinnamon! LOL! But you can adjust to suit your taste. Hope you like them!

Sue

sue, here are my cookies. the taste is good, but not quite what i am looking for in taste or texture. this cookie is a keeper, but i'm also going to tweak it a tad. i did add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to add for some color and it's not dectable in the cookie. i might try half a recipe from the one you posted from epicurious.

i am going to tj's today buying a box and going to try to dissect the recipe from their ingredients. i'm afraid by the time i resolve my recipe issue, i'll be needing richard simmons.

thanks again!
maryanne

{{gwi:1498400}}

Maryanne, they look good to me! And what a beautiful serving plate for the display! But if they're not exactly what you're looking for, then carry on with the quest!

Oh, I am so tempted to make these again myself, but I promised DS some other types of cookies first (he wants peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses and "forgotten cookies").

Good luck!

Sue

Although I know of the cookie you're asking about here, I've never tasted them. However this thread seems to be the perfect place to ask an almond question since it's the nut in discussion. I'm trying to find some healthier muffins for DH and DGS to eat. DH likes nuts added. I can't eat nuts, but followed one recipe that called for slivered almonds which I dutifully bought at T.J.'s. The first recipe wasn't very great, but DH also mentioned that the nuts were too chunky for the muffin. No problem. This time I made a different recipe- gave the oatmeal a whir in the Cuisinart and then chopped the almonds in there as well. He still wasn't loving the nuts. How do the bakeries get them to the right consistency?
As you can tell I'm a total novice in baking with nuts, so any advice is appreciated.
Sorry MaryAnn for hijacking your thread ;-)

I find almonds to bake up quite crunchy.
I prefer to bake with pecans or walnuts in a batter. I prefer to use almonds sliced on top of something, or lightly toasted on top, but not in the batter or dough of something that gets some baking time.

Aha! That must be the problem. I'll sub walnuts or pecans next time. Thanks Terri!

Darn it, I lost my entire reply here. As I was saying, those sure look very close, MaryAnn - just a little thicker than T.J's, which would probably contribute to the extra crispiness, too. When I looked at the link above from mtnester, there was a reference from a reader that she was looking for same type of cookie "we" are and mentioned the similar cookie from Jules Strooper, if you've ever had them. She was correct. Those ARE just like T.J's cookie. They usually came in an assortment box of cookies (from Belgium?), around Xmas, from Costco. I'll anxiously await for you to fine-tune the recipe as I'm drooling over the cookie pics already!

Yes Do try the other nuts..I don't know what it is about almonds..(might be an oil thing, cuz almonds aren't nearly as oily as most other nuts) But Almonds get rock hard when baked.
Oh but if it likes the "flavor" of almonds, try Macadamias. They are mild and buttery.

I think TJ's are an imitation of the Destrooper Almond Wafers. If you search that name on the web, I betyou'll find the recipe.

CC, you're right! Here's the recipe I found on the web. Surprisingly, they are not refrigerated and sliced; instead, the batter is spread thinly, baked, cut, and rebaked (like zweiback or biscotti)!

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Destrooper cookies

compumom, Along with Walnuts and Pecans, Peanuts, Macadamia nuts and Pistachios are all nuts I've used in cookies or breads. I can't remember ever using almonds in my cookie dough before, although I have put almonds on top as Terri stated. DH loves my Pistachio Cookies and thinks it is a special recipe but I just use my Shortbread Cookie recipe and add about a cup of Pistachios.

I would like to try some Cashew Cookies. Anyone ever used cashews in Cookies?

Here is a link that might be useful: Cashew Cookies with Burned Butter Frosting

sue, i am going to try that recipe. i can't beleive you found it. i was searching and searching and searching and struck out after reading cloudy christine's post. i'm going to try the recipe you found, but wait a few days given the fact that i've been experimenting and tasting and tasting and tasting and experimenting and tasting. did i say tasting?

and here is that plate in full. it is a beauty, isn't it?

thanks again for your help and persistence!

Well, sniff, sniff, don't I get any "credit" for my earlier post about these cookies being much like the "Jules Strooper" (sp.) cookie that was almost exactly the same as the T. Joe's? And in my first post on this I mentioned that perhaps it was a batter that was poured in order to achieve that thinness and then the almonds were pressed in - not a bad guess, huh? I need recognition - lol - or just a few broken cookies in an envelope!!

arline, i thought i had a post directed just to you, after you had mentioned that. apparently it must not have taken.

i am giving you credit where credit is due. YOU ROCK! (and these are pretty much the cookies i mentioned that yu can get in the grocery, i could see the box, just not the name).

in any event, i think this last recipe that sue linked to is it. i need to get more almonds though and i was just near bj's yesterday

maryanne

Awww, Arline, I'm donating half of the credit to you! :-) (My Dad would say, "That, and a dime, will buy you a cup of coffee," but I'm afraid those days are long gone! Still, I would love some almond thins and a cup of coffee right about now.) I read your post, too, but got hung up on the word "tweele"; I recognized that you meant "tuile," which is French for "tile," and started looking up recipes for tuile cookies. I found that they resembled European roof tiles, and they were shaped while soft, so that they ended up curved. They didn't seem to fit Maryanne's description, so I dropped that search. But you were on the right track.

Maryanne, the cookie plate is gorgeous! It reminds me of majolica, but with a definitely modern flair.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Tuile and other wafer cookies

Yes, thanks Sue and maryann ... I feel so much better now that I've been redeemed. And yes, I remembered tuile a couple of hours later - you are so right. The texture IS a lot like a thicker tuile cookie - very crunchy and buttery. And I, too, believe this recipe re: the Destrooper cookie is going to be right on!

my hubby and i got a box of these DELISH cookies too, and i noticed you guys are missing a KEY ingredient...instead of all-purpose white flour, you need to use WHOLE WHEAT flour [i still had the TJ box and re-read the ingredients]. i attempted the 'destrooper' recipe and they came out like shortbread cookies. not bad, but not the 'belgian almond thin' taste we were hoping for....

Here is a link that might be useful: hazelbasil.com

new member...linda, any words of advice LOL

p.s. i didn't click - don't you either ;-)

What are the odds a troll or some party with a commercial interest would pull up a thread that hasn't been active since February? The more usual pattern is to introduce a sham topic or find a way to utilize a current topic for their purposes.

I googled the name, looked up her myspace page and comments on other forums. I don't see anything to be suspicious of.

Everyone on the Forum has to have a day 1. This just happens to be hers.

Carol

At the risk of being tagged a "troll", here's my two cents on this old thread.

I've had an empty box of Jules Destrooper's Almond Thins on my computer desk for several months to remind me to look again to see if anyone has developed a recipe and put it online. (I tried it a couple of times myself at first but the results were, well, disappointing.) I found this thread on today's Google search.

I don't know anything about Trader Joe's similar cookies, as we don't have that supermarket chain in the New Orleans area, but the list of ingredients in the Destrooper butter almond cookie is clearly different from the "Destrooper" recipe linked above at Yahoo! Answers:

INGREDIENTS: WHEAT FLOUR, BROWN SUGAR, BUTTER, ALMONDS, SALT.
(Listed in that order.)

Of note: no egg, no vanilla.

The only sources of moisture in the genuine Destrooper's are the brown sugar and the butter and I'm guessing I could try a dozen more times before I figured out the proportions and baking technique that would work. (I'm an OK cook but not that much of a baker.)

Perhaps "WHEAT FLOUR" is how folks in Belgium refer to "whole wheat flour" but I'm not thinking this is the critical difference, at least vis-a-vis Destrooper's (versus Trader Joe's).

I'm thinking that adding egg and vanilla and omitting the molasses flavor of the brown sugar would tend to make a very different cookie, regardless of the proportions of other ingredients and the baking technique.

I'll let you know if I ever figure it out...

I don't think it's whole wheat flour, I think it's probably just AP flour, labeled as wheat flour to distinguish it from rye flour or graham flour or rice flour, etc.

Good luck, and let us know. They are good cookies.

There is one by Flo Braker that appears in adapted form on David Lebovitz's website. The recipe appears in Flo Braker's book "Sweet Miniatures". The finished cookies look very similar to the Destrooper cookie. The technique involves freezing the dough/batter in a [lined] loaf pan and then slicing the batter into very thin slices before baking. The amazon.com reviews of Flo Braker's book include a mention of this pain d'amande recipe as being a Belgian almond cookie.

jayne

Here is a link that might be useful: link to pain d'amande recipe on David Lebovitz website

With A LOT of almonds at hand, I decided to make almond thin cookies like the ones from Trader Joe's which I absolutely adore.

From Grandma Ida's Icebox Cookie recipe, I did everything to the book except that I put in 1/3 cup of truvia instead of white sugar, 1 cup of cane sugar instead of brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tsps of ground cinnamon instead of having to put in 2 tsps.
After refrigerating the dough over night, I made my first batch in 8 minutes at 450F, but the cookies came out all burnt.

After a lengthy run of trail and error, I found that putting the cookies in at 335F for 15 minutes, then moving them to the top rack (close to the broiler) for 5 minutes gives it a nice golden finish.

Although the outcome I was left with was unlike the Trader Joe's Belgian Almond Thins, I'm happy with these cookies regardless :) What's even better is the fact that my diabetic grandmother can enjoy these cookies because I used truvia instead of white sugar!!

"Grandma Ida's Icebox Cookies

1 lb butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
6 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups almonds, chopped

Melt butter; when cold, add dry ingredients, previously mixed. Add eggs, one at a time. Roll and refrigerate overnight. Slice and bake at 450 F for 8 min or 250 F for 15 min."