Almond Brown-Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/4 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 stick unsalted butter, softened
-1 cup packed light brown sugar
-1 large egg
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1/2 cup whole blanched almonds (2 1/2 oz)

Baking Instructions:
-Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture until a dough just forms. Stir in whole almonds. Divide dough in half. Using a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper as an aid, form each piece of dough into a log 9 to 9 1/2 inches long ( 1/ 1/4 inches in diameter).
Chill, wrapped in plastic, until very firm, at least 4 hours. Freeze 30 minutes to facilitate slicing.
-Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut 1 log of dough crosswise into slices less than 1/8 inch thick with a thin, sharp knife, rotating log after each cut to help keep round shape. (If dough gets too soft to slice through nuts easily, freeze briefly.)
Arrange cookies about 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets.
-Bake cookies, switching positions of sheets halfway through, until golden brown all over, about 12 to 15 minutes total. Transfer cookies on parchment to racks to cool.
-Repeat with remaining dough (cool baking sheets and line with fresh parchment.

Makes 100 to 120 cookies.

Dough can be chilled up to 3 days or frozen, wrapped in plastic then foil, for 1 month (thaw in refrigerator until dough can be sliced)