Almond cookies

1 Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius, fan, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2 Place the ground almonds and sugar together in a bowl and use a spoon to stir them together.

3 In a spotlessly clean, grease-free mixing bowl, use an electric whisk to beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

4 Add the vanilla extract (or Amaretto liqueur)

5 Next, gently fold the almond and sugar mixture into the egg whites. The mixture will resemble a thick, sticky paste.

6 In order to be able to roll the paste in your hands, dust the palms of your hands liberally with icing sugar, before rolling the paste into even sized balls, approximately 3cm in diameter (the balls should be smooth, so dust your hands with icing sugar again, if the mixture becomes unmanageably sticky).

7 Place the balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

8 To create apricot thumbprint cookies, gently press each ball to flatten them slightly, then press your thumb into the centre of each disc without allowing the edges to crack. Fill the hollow with a blob of apricot jam (don’t overfill as the jam will expand slightly).

9 For chocolate filled cookies, create the thumbprint, but fill the hollow with melted chocolate after the cookies are baked. For plain cookies, simply press flaked almonds or lavender on to the surface and bake as normal.

10 Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden in colour and slightly cracked (turn up the heat slightly for last five minutes if not going a golden colour). Once baked, remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve them dusted with extra icing sugar.