1. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 325° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Have a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon at hand.
2. Whisk the sugar and egg together in a bowl for a minute or so, until well blended and just a bit thick. Add the almonds and whisk until evenly coated with the mixture. You need to use the batter right away — it separates as it stands. In fact, it’s good to give the batter a stir or two as you’re spooning it out.
3. Each cookie needs 2 teaspoons of batter. Scoop the batter onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches of space between the mounds of batter, and flatten each mound with the back of a fork.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pans midway through baking. The cookies should be toasted-almond beige, and dry and crackled on top. Transfer the baking sheets to racks and let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes. Carefully lift the free-form cookies with a wide spatula.

Note: If your kitchen is cool and dry, you can keep these in a tin or paper bag overnight. Keep them longer, and they might soften, which is a condition that is easily reversed. Just place the cookies on a lined baking sheet and warm them in a 350° F oven for about 6 minutes; cool on the sheet.