If you make your own almond paste, use a food processor to finely grind the almonds. It may take about 2 minutes before you have the right texture--you want the ground almonds to be smooth but before they expel their oil. Stir the ground almonds together with the remaining ingredients, powdered sugar, egg whites almond extract and kosher salt. Set aside.

To prepare the cookies: Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the almond paste with ⅔ cup of the ground almonds (or almond meal) using the low setting. Add the egg white and mix again until well blended. Finally add the baking powder and vanilla extract and process until blended again.

The dough will be very sticky. If it looks too wet, add the remaining ⅓ cup almond meal. I used a full cup of almond meal in this recipe.

Lightly flour your work surface and scoop out the dough from the mixing bowl onto the counter. You might need to sprinkle additional flour on top of the dough so you can work with it. Form the dough into a ball and divide in two pieces. Roll each piece into a thin log, roughly ¾ - 1 inch in diameter. Cut the log in 1-inch pieces, sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar. Flatten the top of each piece and form into a diamond shape. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Transfer the shaped pieces of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets. Leave to rest for a minimum of one hour to overnight.

To bake: Preheat your oven to 300℉. Bake the cookies for 20 mins, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the cooking time. Don't let the cookies get too brown or crisp--the idea is to keep them soft. Cool on a rack before serving.