Tea Room Recipe #4 - Rose and Thistle Tea Room (Ontario, Canada)

When I found an online listing for the Rose and Thistle Tea Room's 1988 cookbook, I ordered a copy not knowing exactly where the tea room was located. I had discovered that a Shamrock Rose and Thistle Tea Room had been located in Mobile, Ala. but was now closed. When my book arrived, I was surprised to find the tea room was in Kingsville, Ontario! But hey, I like tea room cookbooks from anywhere, and Canada has always been sort of like America's first cousin in my mind anyway, so groovy, a Canadian book with some yummy new recipes to try. In a cookie-baking mood, I opted to try the Almond Cookies.

A little internet research, by the way, reveals the Rose and Thistle Tea Room is now the Victorian Rose Tea Room & Restaurant. When the original tea room closed, it was purchased by a former cook! I love that! You can visit their website here if you'd like to learn more about the present tea room and restaurant.

This cookie recipe caught my eye because it's one of those cookie doughs you shape into logs and then slice. I find these are easy and produce perfect cookies, so I was intrigued. Also, I should mention that the chocolate chip "dip" is created a bit differently than most. This one called for butter and hot water to be added to the chocolate chips, and I must say that when I microwaved it in 20-second increments, it created a dip that was absolutely perfect, not too thick and not too runny. I would never have added water to such a recipe, so it was fun to learn a new trick. And these cookies are absolutely scrumptious!

Almond Cookies

1 cup butter (no substitutions)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped almonds

Chocolate Dip

6 ounces chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon hot water
1 cup finely chopped almonds

Cream butter, then add sugar, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and almonds. Use hands if necessary to combine. Dough will be very stiff. Divide dough in half and shape into logs. (Mine were 10 inches long.) Wrap in plastic wrap and chill. With sharp knife, cut into slices 3/8-inch thick (the recipe said 1/2-inch, but I wanted mine thinner). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes on greased cookie sheets, or line sheets with parchment paper. Let cool completely.

Make dip by melting chocolate chips, butter and hot water in microwave or over a double boiler. Dip half of each cookie in chocolate and then the almonds. Let set on parchment or wax paper. Yields 6 dozen cookies according to the book, but 4 dozen cookies the way I made them, and my cookies were about 1-3/4 inches wide. Thanks to the ease of slicing up the dough rather than spooning it, these baked up super fast and I had them all dipped in no time!