Easy Italian Almond Cookies

If you've never made Italian Almond Cookies before, you're in for a treat! These Almond Cookies are a little crispy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. The best part - with one simple dough, we are going to make two versions of these Italian Almond Cookies!

Ingredients

Base Dough

• 400g (4 cups) finely ground blanched almond flour (almond meal)

• 240g (1 cup) caster sugar

• 4 large egg whites, room temperature

• 1-2 tsp almond extract

• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

• Zest of 1 lemon

For Rolling & Decoration

• 1 cup icing sugar

• 18-12 whole almonds

• ½ cup sliced almonds 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, rub the lemon zest into the caster sugar using your fingertips until the sugar is fragrant and slightly moist.

3. Add the lemon sugar to the almond flour and mix until evenly combined.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites just until frothy. Add the almond, and vanilla extract and, whisk till well blended.

5. Now add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  First use a spatula to bring it together, then go in with clean fingers and gently bring the dough together.Divide the dough into two portions to make two variations: Icing Sugar Almond cookies, and Sliced Almond-Topped cookies

6. To get uniform size cookies, use a small trigger release cookie scoop and start portioning out the cookies. 

7. For the first type of cookie, roll the scooped out cookie dough between the palm of your hands, once you have a smooth round ball, toss it into the icing sugar and keep rolling it in the icing sugar till well coated.  Gently press down the cookie and then place it on a banking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave a little space between the cookies for slight spreading. Continue this process till you have formed and coated all the cookies of the first batch.  

8. Gently press the round end of an almond into each cookie. 

9. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the base of the cookies have a light golden colour. 

10. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.They will firm up as they cool.

11. For the second variation of cookies, once again you will roll the scooped out cookie dough between the palm of your hands, and then toss it into a bowl with sliced almonds.   

12. Press down the dough so that the sliced almonds stick to it.  Now place it on a lined baking sheet leaving a little gap between the cookies for spreading.  Continue the process till all the cookies have been formed and coated.

13. Place in a preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the sliced almonds turn light golden colour. 

14. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. They will firm up as they cool

15. Dust the cookies lightly with extra icing sugar before serving if you like a snowy finish.

Tips for Perfect Amaretti

• Don’t overwhip the egg whites. Light foam is perfect.

• If the dough feels sticky, add a little almond flour.

• The more icing sugar you use, the prettier the cracks.

• Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature.

• For longer storage, freeze the unbaked cookies (without icing sugar) and bake from frozen, adding 2–3 minutes to the baking time.