Calvert School's Greek Almond Cakes

In 4th grade history, we've been studying the ancient Greeks. Leonidas, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Athens, Sparta, Thermpylae, etc. OK, so it's not terribly in depth, but the child in question is 9, and I'll bet he knows more about Ancient Greece now than most high school kids. Anyway, sometimes Calvert School provides recipes to go along with some subject area; in this case, it was "Greek Almond Cakes." Now, I'm not Greek, although I once met a restauranteur who was Greek. Call them what you want, they were awfully good. I ate 6. I probably should have then run around yelling "OINK!" because they were filling, but I'm happy I ate 6. So, in lieu of a history lesson, I bring you

GREEK ALMOND CAKES

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup of finely chopped almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract (I doubled that, because I love almond flavor)
powdered sugar

Cream the butter, and beat the sugar in. Add the egg yolk, and beat until thoroughly combined. Sift together the flour, powder and salt, and beat them in gradually, followed by the almonds and extract. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, or, if you're lazy like me, let the mixer do it at low speed. Roll pieces of the dough into small balls, and place on buttered baking sheets. Bake at 350F for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. Remove the sheet from the oven, and let the cookies cool before you take them off the sheet (or they will crumble; trust me). Roll the cookies in powdered sugar, or, again, be lazy and sift the sugar over the cookies. Then stand back, because the hordes will trample you on their way to these!

Oh, Peter, if these aren't really Greek, pretend I called them "Great Almond Cakes!"