Mandel Kakor (Swedish Almond butter cookies) or Mandel Gubbar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 oz almond extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 egg beaten
swedish pearl sugar or cake decorating sprinkles

1. preheat oven to 350F
2. combine butter and sugar in a large bowl. using a mixer at medium high speed beat until light. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well. add almond extract and heavy cream. mix well.
3. Turn dough out and work into a ball. Cut into 4 portions and shape each into a ball. flatten each ball into a 4 inch circle . Refrigerate 10 mintues.
4. Place dough rounds onto baking sheet. brush tops with beaten egg. sprinkle pearl sugar on top.
5. Bake 20 minutes remove from oven. Decrease temp to 300F

6 cut each round into 10 slices, then cut each slice in half except short ends. return to oven and bake 20 minutes for crispy cookies or 10 minutes for more chewier cookies makes about 70 cookies.