I’ll make short work of this. These Almond Roca Cookie Bars are just everything that Christmas means to me, my love. They are so unique and really, honestly, truly, simple to make. The best thing about this recipe is that they are easy to change-up for any occasion. You can put pumpkin candy corns on them in the fall, red-hots and sweet-hearts on them for Valentine’s Day, and toasted coconut on them for Easter! Seriously, perfect for any holiday.
Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday to make these. I mean, they just scream cozy nights at home to me. Because, chocolate, obviously. There is something about Christmas that just lends itself to that creamy comfort of chocolate.
Okay, set aside how amazing chocolate is—how incredibly awesome is almond? I love, love, love, almond extract. It’s just the perfect flavoring for anything that is in the shortbread family. It’s a warm flavor, and subtly sweet. It absolutely MAKES the Marilyn’s Soft Sugar Cookie recipe. Not to mention that it puts the almond in Almond Roca Cookie Bars.
My advice is to use Ghirardelli chocolate on the top of the cookie. Not just because I’m partial to their chocolate, but because it melts the best and will spread the easiest. Don’t use Nestle chocolate chips, they just don’t melt. No one needs a real Christmas melt down because your chocolate chips didn’t melt down correctly.
Side note: no hate to Nestle Chocolate chips. I use them all the time, just not for melting chocolate.
These little cookies are another family recipe. I believe they come from my Aunt Wanda’s kitchen. I think she made them on a larger cookie sheet so the shortbread was thin and crispy but I’ve changed it to a thicker-style shortbread. My Aunt Wanda knows what’s up in the kitchen. She always has the greatest recipes and her house always has that smell that there is something delicious on the stove. Life goals.
That’s the best part of Christmas. The traditions and seeing how recipes get passed down. I love that even though we no longer have Grandma Lillian around, I still have her caramel corn recipe in my heart and the memories of her teaching me how to make it in her small, unleveled kitchen. This is part of the reason I started this blog in the first place. What better way to store family recipes than on a website? I hope that you all enjoyed this week of Christmas cookies! I know it was a ton of fun to do. I’m just going to go to bed and take a long nap now. If you need me, you can find me on the couch, asleep with a half-eaten Almond Roca Cookie Bar hanging out of my mouth.
Almond Roca Cookie Bars
These little cookie bars are addicting! They use few ingredients and take minimal effort. Give it a try and see just how amazing they are!
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 24 servings 1x
Ingredients
1 cup sweet cream butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, cream room-temperature butter, sugar, and brown sugar together until soft and fluffy. Add egg yolk, almond extract, and salt and continue to beat mixture until incorporated. Add flour and mix until the dough comes together.
Turn dough out onto a parchment-lined, (or a silicone baking mat liner) 13″ x 9″ baking sheet. Press the dough down with your fingertips until it’s evenly dispersed throughout the pan.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 17-20 minutes. Bars are done when the corners are no longer shiny. Turn off the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly on top of the bars. Shut the oven door and leave in the oven for approximately one minute while the chocolate chips melt.
Remove bars from the oven and spread the chocolate evenly over the bars. Immediately sprinkle sliced almonds evenly on top.
Wait at least one to two hours before cutting bars into squares.
Keywords: almond, almond roca, chocolate cookies
Hi! How much salt for this recipe? It doesn’t say
No salt for this recipe. If you’d like to add some, I would add more that 1/2 tsp. Thanks, Diana!