Almond Cookies

For Chinese New Year, I decided I wanted to make some recipes that they may have usually for the New Year. One recipe I found that I had the ingredients for were almond cookies.
Adapted from About.com.

Prep Time: 15min
Cook Time: 25min

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg (plus one for brushing on top later)
2 1/2 tsp almond extract
whole blanched almonds (enough for one per cookie... or about 30)

Preheat oven to 325F

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. With an electric mixer, in a medium bowl, mix the butter, shortening and sugar. Add ONE egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add the flour mixture... dough will be crumbly and hard to handle.

To make it easier to form into balls, roll dough into 2 10 inch logs, wrap, and place in fridge for 2 hours. I didn't bother putting it in the fridge, and it still worked out well for me.

Take each log and cut into 15 equal pieces... making 30 cookies. Roll each piece into a ball, place on a lightly greased cookie tray 1 1/2 inches apart or more. Place an almond in the center of each and press down.

Brush each cookie with egg (lightly beaten). Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.