Christmas cookie 5 of 12

Everyone knows “five gooooooooolden riiiiiiiiings” is the apex of the twelve days of Christmas song. So, in that spirit, I’m picking an absolute banger for my fifth cookie of Christmas. 

Here she is, folks: Almond Mezza Lune 🌙✨

I discovered the recipe inspiration for this cookie when I was looking for a way to use up leftover egg whites after making ice cream. Luckily,  David Lebovitz, the author of my ice cream bible, The Perfect Scoop, had a plan for that. In a blog post titled “Recipes to Use Up Leftover Egg Whites,” I found his recipe for Italian Almond Cookies. 

Not only would this recipe help with my egg white problem, but, being made of almond flour, they contained no wheat. I’d been looking to add a gluten free cookie to my offerings and this seemed like the perfect place to start.

Over time I’ve made some tweaks to the recipe, to make it my own. Including coating the cookies in almonds and shaping them into half moons. Mezza lune, if you will.

It’s important to me that a gluten free cookie stands on its own. Something I would make that way because that’s how it tastes best. Not some sad facsimile of a cookie that would normally contain wheat. 

These mezza lune most certainly fit the bill.

Soft and chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside and bursting with almond flavor, these cookies have it all!  

A fan favorite, my mezza lune recipe was published in The Seattle Times. So you can make them yourself.  I love hearing from those of you who have! Or go easy-mode and let me make them for you this holiday season