Almond Cornmeal Cookie

This delicious cookie was inspired by Martha Stewart's Lemon-Cornmeal Sheet Cookie from the November issue of her magazine. I replaced the original recipe's lemon zest with a pinch of cinnamon, I cut back slightly on the sugar, and I omitted the additional sugar on top. I really don't like overly sweet cookies and I wanted something a bit earthier than lemon to pair with Peet's medium roast coffees.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup fine ground yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon anise seeds
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, lightly beaten for egg wash
1 decent pinch cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, anise seeds, baking powder, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in whole egg. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture.

Press dough into an even 1/4-inch thickness on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with almonds. Bake until golden - 22 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Break into pieces.
In the same way I substituted ingredients for this final cookie, I can see future cookies in which I've used cinnamon and nutmeg, cardamom and anise, lemon or orange and cardamom, or even coconut and pistachio. So many flavor combos to try!