One of the things that Mormons are well-known for is how well they take care of 
each other. When my dad was very ill, the family spent ten hours a day at the hospital. There was not much time to think about much else. Enter the sisters of the Relief Society…
In my mom’s neighborhood, this cadre of ladies organized themselves and brought enough food to feed an army of folks. After eating all that hospital food, it was nice to have a home-cooked meal waiting when you got home.
One of these ladies was was a gal named Els-Britt, who is of Finnish ancestry. She brought over this to-die-for almond cookie. I took one bite and went into food-nirvana. For a couple of moments, I forgot all my cares and savored this buttery, almondy, crunchy-yet-puffy cookie bar. I had to have the recipe.
Brew yourself a cup of herb tea and munch your cares away with this one.
Kiitos, Els-Britt!
Finnish Almond Puff
Shortbread Crust:
½ cup butter
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
Puff:
½ cup butter
1 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup flour
3 eggs
Sugar Glaze:
1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 – 2 tablespoons water
Slivered almonds
1. Preheat over to 350-degrees Cut butter into flour and salt until well blended. Sprinkle water over mixture and mix with fork. Pat into 9 x 13 pan.
2. Prepare puff. Heat butter and water to rolling boil. Remove from heat and stir in extract and flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth.
3. Spread mixture over shortbread crust, covering completely.
4. Bake 60 minutes until topping is crisp and brown. Cool.
5. Prepare sugar glaze. Combine ingredients. Mix until smooth. Drizzle over cooled puff. Sprinkle generously with slivered almonds. Cut into finger- sized bars and serve.
