Whole Foods Market
Portland – various locations
$1.99
Is it a cookie? Or is it a confection? It’s sitting behind the glass next to all the other cookies, but I’d say this one sort of rides the fence being that a) it contains not a lick of flour (not that flour is a requirement for cookie classification) and b) enclosed within its thin, almond-encrusted sheath, is a dense, slightly sticky mass of sweet, sugary marzipan – behaving more like candy than cookie, imo. Its ingredients are: sugar, almonds, almond paste, egg whites and salt.
I had overlooked this shy, wallflower crescent for years – assuming it to be nothing more than an uninteresting and bland biscuit. It wasn’t until I ordered a catered lunch from Whole Foods last year for a group of 20 people that I first put one in my mouth. This was during Passover and so I self-servingly requested that the cookie platter include a couple of flourless options (because G-d forbid I go a week of my life not eating cookies). I was expecting not much other than the obvious macaroon, but when the almond horn showed up as the KLP cookie (kosher l’Pesach), I happily obliged.
Be warned, if you hate marzipan, this is not your cookie. I happen to adore the shit – and this little horn of plenty has since been in my regular WF cookie rotation.
Count me a fan of the almond horn – a Johnny-come-lately, perhaps – but a big, big fan.
One of my very favorites. It always seems a bit crass to just squeeze marzipan into your mouth–this cookie gives me a way to satisfy that particular obsession in public. And–they sell two versions, the other covered with powdered sugar. Which is nice as well, but tends to leave too much telltale dust on my shirt after grocery expeditions. I want people to think I’ve been slaving away, providing for them. Not getting my marzipan fix!
Giovanna,
I meant to mention that there is a choice between powdered sugar or plain, but I agree with you about the tell-tale dust thing. The powdered sugar doesn’t really add anything beyond aesthetics, imo. You’re right, this cookie is really just one short step away from main-lining marzipan. Why am I not surprised that this cookie is in your regular rotation?
P.S. Thank you for being my VERY FIRST COMMENTER EVER!!!
Just had one a couple weeks ago and I loved it….I think it’s almond paste, not marzipan….WOULD LOVE TO FIND A RECIPE!
Hi Audrey,
I’m so glad you found it…and loved it as much as I do!
I guess I use “marzipan” and “almond paste” interchangeably, although I realize the two things are not exactly the same. Apparently (I just looked this up) marzipan has a higher percentage of sugar than almond paste does. I’m not sure which of the two they’re using in the almond horn at WF, but whatever it is, it’s the exact right level of sugar for my taste.
I have never actually tried to track down a recipe for these, but there is a recipe in The Gourmet Cookie Book for almond pine nut macaroons (I don’t use the pine nut) that contain nothing other than almond flour, powdered sugar, almond extract and…maybe salt? They’re rolled into little balls and brushed with egg whites – dead easy to make. (And they are gluten free/kosher for Passover, to boot!) Anyone who likes the almond horns will also dig these. Plus, they’re bite-sized, so you can eat, like 4. Or…10.
Love the almond horn cookie at Whole Foods. I was skeptical at first. If I had known it contained almond paste, I would not have been reluctant since I, too, am a fan of marzipan.
Lynn: it IS such a deceiving cookie, right? So much goodness beneath that simple facade. They really ought to give the marzipan top billing.
Recipe here!
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071114084155AA9CRzF
Thanks, Lulu!
These cookies are so good … I travel 1 hr. one way to whole foods to purchase these delicious cookies….
Hope: I fully support a two hour round trip for an almond horn. It is a peerless cookie, for sure!
I had these cookies in a Miami store and I have been unable to locate it.
Hi Jennifer,
I’m not sure I understand. Do you mean that you haven’t been able to locate it at the Miami store where you originally had it? Or haven’t been able to locate it in other Whole Foods stores? Either way, all I can tell you that they DO make them at the various Portland Whole Foods. And also that, if you’re up for the task, see the recipe posted by another reader in a comment below. (Although, they do not look too complicated. And if you don’t feel like buying almond paste, it’s pretty easy to make from scratch. I did it recently – you can find many recipes for making almond paste online.)
Good luck – I hope you are reunited with an almond horn very soon!
Joanna