Amaretti Cookies
These Italian almond flavored macaroons are crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Enjoy them on their own, sandwich together with some ganache, or crumbled over another dessert (like mousse or triffle).
Beat egg whites while slowly adding ½ cup sugar. If the almond flour is lumpy, use a pastry cutter or fork to break it into fine pieces.
Once stiff peaks are formed, fold in remaining ingredients including sugar. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag.
I used a pastry bag without a tip on it (just the coupler), or cut a ziploc bag with an inch opening. Squeeze batter out to small cookies, then bake until golden.
Amaretti Cookies
Light, crispy, chewy almond flavored cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar divided
- 1 ¾ cups 200g almond meal
- ½ tsp almond extract
Instructions
- Beat egg whites while slowly adding ½ cup sugar. Once stiff peaks are formed, fold in remaining ingredients including sugar.
- Spoon mixture into a pastry bag and pipe out cookies onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Am allergic to eggs, Is there anything else to use instead of the egg whites?
Do you know if these can be made with sugar substitute like Splenda or Truvia?
Unfortunately not for this recipe. There are so few ingredients in these cookies, that the sugar -in addition to sweetness, adds volume and structure to the batter. If you replaced some of that volume with something else, like applesauce, it would completely change the texture of this type of cookie (which is crispy, light and airy).
Not for this cookie recipe. Amaretti are meringue-style cookies, so there is really no replacement for the eggs.
Is almond mead the same as ground almonds
Yes, although I find ‘almond meal’ (like from Bob’s Red Mill) is ground even finer than the package of ‘ground almonds’ you’d find in the baking section. You want it like a flour consistency, versus tiny granules of almonds. I’ve tried using a food processor to finely grind my own, but it never uniformly ends up with the same texture. Some bits are bigger, some are perfect, then the bit at the bottom starts to turn into almond butter. I find it much easier (and end up with a baked product that I expect) to buy the prepackaged “Almond Meal/Flour” that is specific to using as a flour in baking.
Can you find that Almond meal in grocery stores?
Most large grocery stores are carrying a number of gluten free flours and products now. They are usually all together in the same aisle. Bob’s Red Mill is a brand that most grocery stores seem to carry. If not, health food/organic food stores are sure to have it. You could also make your own by grinding up whole skinned/blanched almonds. But its quite tricky to get them as fine and powdery as you get in the stores (since it can turn to almond butter quickly if you over process it!).
Can you use the almond all purpose flour?
You don’t want to use an almond flour blend with this recipe – just the pure ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour). This is what gives these cookies their super crisp and light texture. Adding other gluten free flour blends will produce a different tasting and dense cookie.