Blanch almonds and place in warm oven 5 minutes to dry completely. Chop almonds very fine until reduced to a powder. Add sugar and mix well. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and add to almonds and sugar. Add almond extract and blend all together gently but thoroughly.

Butter and flour a baking sheet and drop batter on baking sheet by spoonfuls. Leave a space of 1 inch between cookies, shaping spoonfuls of batter into ovals. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, let stand 2 hours and bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) 5 minutes, or until delicately brown in color. Makes 14.