Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Reserve 32 whole almonds and mince the rest in a food processor.  Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl using a hand mixer.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl (except for the whole almonds) and mix with the hand mixer.  Place the dough on a piece of wax paper and roll the dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter.  Cut the log into 32 equal size pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Press a whole almond into each ball.  Bake until lightly browned (about 20 minutes).

Our comments:  We aren't big cookie fans.  Desserts that feature cookies tend to be pretty dull.  Not so with these!  We don't know what makes these simple cookies so good.  Maybe it is because we always serve them hot out of the oven.  Whatever the reason, they disappear immediately.