Almond Shortbread Cookies 4 ways

• In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer beat the butter and sugar and confectioner's sugar for 2 minutes.
• Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
• In a separate bowl add the all purpose flour, almond flour, and salt. Whisk until combined.
• With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture and mix until not quite combined. Then add the rest of the mixture and mix until just combined, making sure not to over-mix as that will make the dough tough.

  The dough might be a tad crumbly, but you can press it together on the counter.
• Dump the dough onto your counter and press together into a flattened round and cut in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap or beeswax wrap completely. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
  
• Remove one half of the dough from the fridge and uncover, but flatten out the plastic wrap. Place another piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper underneath the dough and top with the plastic wrap on top. This will make rolling out the dough very easy and will help if it breaks apart while rolling.

  If it does, simply press the seems back together through the plastic wrap. The parchment and plastic wrap will also prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
  
• Cut out with cookie cutters of similar sizes. You don't want to bake really small cookies on the same sheet pan as the bigger cookies since the smaller ones will bake faster than the bigger ones. To cut round cookies, use a glass or a round biscuit cutter. Dip the cookie cutter in a bit of flour before each cut to keep the dough from sticking to the cutter.

  Use a small offset spatula to help lift the cookies from the parchment paper.

  You can press the remaining bits of dough together and roll it out to cut even more cookies out. If you don't have room on your sheet pan, cover them with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to keep them chilled until you are ready to bake them.
  
• Place the cookies on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper about two inches apart. They don't spread much at all so they can be placed closer together.
  
• Bake for 8-11 minutes (depending on the size of the cookies). Start checking the cookies around 6-7 minutes, especially if they are really small cookies. Bake until the edges start to turn light golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes then remove the cookies from the sheet pan and cool on a cookie rack if you have one.
  
• Roll out the second ball of dough out and shape. Bake like sizes with like sizes.

For the Chai Spiced Cookies

• Mix the spices with the sugar and whisk with a fork until combined. Dip each cookie into the chai sugar mixture and coat.

  Bake on a sheet pan with cookies of the same size. You can bake them on a sheet pan with other cookies that don't have the chai sugar coating as they will bake in the same amount of time.
  

For the Apricot Jam-filled cookies

• Use two cookies of the same size and shape and spread apricot jam on one cookie and top with the other cookie.
  

For the Dark Chocolate Peppermint

• Place the pieces of dark chocolate or chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for 10-20 seconds at a time. Stir after each interval. Stop heating when all the chocolate is melted and stirred together. This takes about 30-60 seconds in total.
• Add the peppermint extract to the melted chocolate and stir.
• Use a glass or a cup and place the ziploc bag or piping bag inside to help stand it up. Pour the melted chocolate in the bag and use your hands to remove air holes.

  Cut a small slit in the pointy corner of the bag with scissors. Immediately pipe lines across the cookies. Place the bag of chocolate back in the cup or glass to keep from spilling.
  
• Top with crushed peppermint candies.

For the White Chocolate Peppermint

• Place the pieces of white chocolate or chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for 10-20 seconds at a time. Stir after each interval. Stop heating when all the chocolate is melted and stirred together. This takes about 30-60 seconds in total.
• Add the peppermint extract to the melted chocolate and stir.
• Use a glass or a cup and place the ziploc bag or piping bag inside to help stand it up. Pour the melted chocolate in the bag and use your hands to remove air holes.

  Cut a small slit in the pointy corner of the bag with scissors. Immediately pipe lines across the cookies. Place the bag of chocolate back in the cup or glass to keep from spilling.
  
• Top with crushed peppermint candies.