secret recipe club: simple almond sandwich cookies

it's time again for the secret recipe club! i was still on a banana high after last month's banana rum cake, and had to seriously pull myself away from anything banana. which brings me to one of my favorite ever flavors: almond.

this month, it was sanjeeta's blog, lite bite, that these almond cookies are adapted from. perfect. i modified the cookie recipe slightly - mainly so i didn't have to roll and cut out the cookies, who has time for that!? - and i filled them with almond buttercream. since the only thing better than almond cookies, are almond cream filled cookies.

what's the secret recipe club? it's a much better version of secret santa. each month participating bloggers are assigned another participating blogger to make a recipe from. you pick the recipe, adapt it as you wish, make it, and blog it on the same day as the other participating bloggers. click to find out more information or join.

simple almond sandwich cookies
adapted from lite bite
makes 36 cookies or 18 sandwiches

for the cookies:
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
heavy pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds (give them a whir in a food processor)
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey

for the filling:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. in a medium bowl, whisk the flours, salt, cinnamon, and ground almonds together. set aside.
2. in a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. mix in the honey.
3. slowly mix the dry ingredients into the butter sugar mixture until incorporated.
4. separate the dough roughly in half, roll each half into a log, and roll in plastic wrap. refrigerate for at least an hour. the diameter of your roll is a bit less than the size of your cookies, since they spread when they bake. my logs were about three inches wide.
5. preheat your oven to 350F. line a sheet pan with parchment and slice the logs into about quarter inch slices. arrange slices on the baking sheet so they are at least 2 to 3 inches apart. bake 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cookies, until light golden brown. cool on a cookie sheet.
6. while the cookies bake and cool, make the filling. beat the butter until light and fluffy. slowly add the confectioners sugar until incorporated. add the almond extract and mix until incorporated. if the mixture is too dry, mix in water, a few drops at a time.
7. when the cookies are cool, match them up based on size. fill with about a tablespoon of filling and sandwich them.