Almond Olive-Oil Tuiles - Passover

I squeal for tuiles!

Wait ... what?  Squeal for tools?

No, no, no ... first of all, tuiles is pronounced tweels (aha, hence the rhyme). Tuiles, a French word literally meaning "tiles," are curved  cookies named, according to epicurious (a REAL food expert this time), because they resemble curved roof tiles.

Tuiles are extremely thin and shatteringly crisp ... when you make them correctly.  Mine weren't quite as crisp as they should have been (and by "weren't quite as crisp" I mean "not at all crisp").  Because of their thinness they are easyto burn, so I pulled them from the oven after only 6 minutes with just the edges browned, resulting in an extremely thin but chewy tuile, similar to a macaroon but without the coconut.   Still tasty, though.   Next time I'll leave  them in a couple more minutes.

Don't be scared off by the use of olive oil.  The mild stuff adds a buttery-ish taste that's not at all olive-y.  If you have already bought veggie and olive oils, don't go buying a 3rd bottle of oil just for Passover ... simply use half of each.

Tuiles don't last very long, and it's not because you can't eat just one (sorry, they do look like potato chips).  Just spend a little time whipping up the batter (get it?  Whip up? Oh, I am SO witty today :P ).  Then it's very easy to dip out a small batch, storing the remaining batter, covered in the fridge, for 3-4 days or so.

Almond Olive-Oil Tuiles
slightly adapted from epicurious
yield: 15 to 18 tuiles

1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg white
6 Tbl. potato starch
1/4 cup mild olive oil
1/4 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pure almond extract
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking liner (otherwise they will permanently bond to your pan or parchment).

Dump everything but the almonds into a small mixing bowl.

Use a hand whisk to mix it all together ...

... until smooth.

Spoon 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie, at least 2 inches apart, on baking sheet.  

Using the back of the measuring spoon, spread batter into a 3-inch round.  Don't worry about making them too thin.  You can never be too thin ... sorry ...

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon sliced almonds on each batter round.

Bake until tuiles are pale golden, 7 to 9  minutes.   These tuiles were only baked 6 minutes.  You do the math.

Using a spatula, carefully remove tuiles from liner, then immediately drape over empty wine bottle or small seltzer bottle, pressing them gently to make sure they curl.  Cool baking sheet and liner, then continue with remaining batter.

Cool completely before serving.  Store leftovers tightly covered for no more than 1 day.