1-First Step: Prepare Oven and Baking Trays Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C, or 160°C with fan). Lightly grease two large baking trays and line them with parchment paper for easy biscuit removal.

2-Second Step: Roast and Crush Almonds (Optional) If desired, roast the blanched almonds for 7 minutes for enhanced nuttiness. Allow to cool, then crush into coarse crumbs to fold into the biscuit dough.

3-Third Step: Mix Dry Ingredients In a bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Set this aside as it will be incorporated into the cretan biscuit dough later.

4-Fourth Step: Cream Butter and Sugar Using a hand or stand mixer, cream softened unsalted butter with sugar until the mixture becomes light and fluffy approximately 1.5 minutes. This step is key to the biscuit’s tender texture.

5-Fifth Step: Add Wet Ingredients Beat in the egg and vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar. The mixture might look slightly curdled at this point, but this will resolve when the dry mix is added.

6-Sixth Step: Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients Gradually fold in the dry flour mixture in three batches, stirring gently to combine. Leaving some small flour specks fine is okay to avoid overmixing.

7-Seventh Step: Incorporate Almonds Fold the crushed roasted almonds evenly into the dough until no visible flour remains, enriching flavor and texture.

8-Eighth Step: Shape the Biscuits Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to form about 30 dough balls. Roll each into a smooth ball, then flatten slightly to a thickness of about 0.8 inches (2 cm). Place them 1.6 inches (4 cm) apart on the baking trays.

9-Ninth Step: Decorate Brush the tops lightly with whisked egg white and sprinkle almond flakes for that classic cretan biscuit look and subtle crunch.

10-Final Step: Bake and Cool Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until biscuits are lightly golden at the center and a warm golden around the edges. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy your tender, flavorful cretan biscuits!