Crispy Almond Cheese

It always starts with Sinterklaas celebration, followed by all other celebrations, until the New Year. This is always a busy period for me. A lot of preparation, cakes, cookies, or serving others' needs and want. Usually, I will have a lot of egg whites left over and I will have to use it to whip up some other dishes or food using the left over ingredients, especially because I HATE throwing food away. For me, it is a sin. There are people with difficulty to find food, so we have to be responsible with how we use our resources.

One of the way to use up my left over egg whites is making crispy almond cheese cookies. This one is a slightly different version of Indonesian traditional cookie called "cat tongue" or "lidah kucing".

Ingredients
200 gr egg whites
200 gr fine granulated sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 gr salt
100 gr cake flour
100 gr butter (soft, almost melted butter)
100 gr grated cheese (old cheese is better)
1 tsp baking powder


Method
1. Mix the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla.
2. Add the sifted cake flour and baking powder, mix well.
3. Add the soft (almost melted) butter - at room temperature, and mix well.
4. Add half of the cheese and mix well.
5. Prepare the oven, 150 degree Celcius, and the pan, use baking paper or silicon mat to cover the baking tray/pan.
6. For each crispy cookie, drop 1 tsp on the baking paper and spread it in circle movement.
7. Sprinkle each crispy cookie dough with almond flake and grated cheese.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depends on your oven.
9. Repeat for the rest of the dough.

My children and husband love this crispy cookie so much. It is a laborious work, but I find it satisfying looking at their happy face. My children could not stop eating this. Once, I brought this for a Christmas party with friends, with the intention to share. Unfortunately, when everybody was busy greeting and chatting with each other, my youngest found his way to the serving bowl and finished almost everything.