• Preheat oven to 325°F

For the Dough

• Wash the lemon, and zest it. Once you have collected all zest from the lemon, set it aside. Then, cut the lemon into two halves. Set the halves aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whip the vegetable shortening or butter by hand or with a hand mixer. Once whipped, add in the olive oil.
• Next, add in the sugar to the vegetable shortening and olive oil mix. Continue mixing these three ingredients together until the texture is smooth.
• Add into the mixture the egg and lemon zest. Squeeze the juice of one of the lemon halves into the mixture.
• Continue mixing all ingredients together. Once the mixture is again smooth in texture, add in the dry ingredients including the flour and baking soda. Mix all ingredients together.
• Lastly, fold in a 1/2 cup of almond halves if desired.

For the Cookies

• Using a teaspoon or your hands, make small balls with the dough. Place the small dough balls onto a greased cookie sheet.
• Press down on each small dough ball to help flatten it before baking.
• Bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes until they turn light brown in color. Allow the cookies to cool before serving, and serve delicately so that they do not crumble!

Tip

• If the dough mixture is too dry, try adding some milk to thicken it. If the dough mixture is too runny, try adding some additional flour.