Chewy Italian Almond Biscuits Recipes

RICCIARELLI: CHEWY ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Whip egg whites and lemon juice together with a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
• Using a fine mesh sieve, sift in almond flour, 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, salt, and baking powder and fold into egg whites. I don't do it all at once but maybe in 2-3 batches. Try to keep some air in the egg whites, but at this point it will form a pretty sticky dough rather than a fluffy meringue.
• Add orange zest, vanilla extract, and almond extract and fold in until combined.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using clean hands, roll dough into balls about 1" in diameter, then roll in powdered sugar until well coated. Shape into an oval, then arrange on baking sheet with some space between them for spreading, and flatten slightly.
• Leave at room temperature for about an hour or until the tops have dried out and formed almost a little shell. (This may take longer in humid areas.) Pre-crack the shell by squeezing the cookies slightly from opposite corners. (Not doing this won't affect the taste, but pre-cracking them makes them much prettier if you want that beautiful white-gold contrast!)
• While cookies are drying, preheat oven to 300 degrees. When the cookies are ready, bake for about 20 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container. These are even better the next day and are great with coffee or tea!

ALMOND RICCIARELLI COOKIES

Steps:

• Position the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper. Note: do not use a silpat as the cookies will have a tendency to stick to the silicone mat.
• Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the almond paste. Transfer to the work bowl of your food processor and add the granulated sugar. Process the the almond paste and sugar together for about 1 full minute or until smooth and evenly combined.
• Add the egg white, salt and almond extract and process until blended and smooth. Transfer the almond paste mixture to a medium bowl using a rubber spatula to scrape all the batter from the container. Add the almond flour and use the rubber spatula to mix it well into the almond paste mixture.
• Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Use a mini cookie scoop (holding 2-3 teaspoons) and scoop rounds of the dough into the powdered sugar. Gently toss the almond cookie to coat with sugar and transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet.
• Continue scooping and coating the dough and transfer to the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 to 3" apart.
• Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pan 180° about halfway through cooking. The almond cookies should just barely be starting to take on a little color.
• Rest the cookies on the sheet pan for 5 minutes to set, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

CHEWY AMARETTI (ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg and sugar. Stir in the Amaretto and almond extracts.
• Add the almond flour and stir until combined. Stir in the flour and baking powder until a firm dough is formed.
• Shape scant tablespoonfuls of dough into a ball. Lightly dredge in the powdered sugar, shaking off excess sugar. Place on baking sheet and top with an almond or maraschino cherry, if desired. Continue with remaining dough.
• Bake for approximately 15 minutes until lightly browned underneath and the tops of the cookies are crackled. Cool on a rack before serving.

AMARETTI - ITALIAN CHEWY ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• If you're using whole peeled almonds, toast them in the oven until lightly brown. This will give a darker color and more bright flavor to amaretti.
• Once almonds reach desired color, cool them completely.
• Pulse almonds and bitter apricot kernels (if you opt to use those as in traditional Italian recipe) with sugar in a food processor as finely as you can.
• NOTE: if you are using almond flour, use confectioners sugar instead of regular sugar. This way you don't need to use a food processor. Simply mix everything in the bowl.
• Add almond extract.
• Beat egg white with a pinch of salt until completely white and fluffy.
• Start to fold egg white into sugar and almond mix. Add a couple of table spoons at a time. You should reach silky and stiff consistency of the cookie dough. NOTE: You may not need to use all egg whites, just enough to get the dough together.
• Sprinkle work surface with some powdered/confectioners sugar.
• Pinch off some dough and roll it into ⅔ of an inch rope.Using a dough scraper cut the rope into ⅔ of an inch pieces.
• Roll each "pillow" giving it a ball shape (size of a walnut) and roll it in generous amount of confectioners sugar.
• Place each cookie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Decorate with an almond nut (optional).
• Bake in preheated to 350F oven for 12-15 minutes, just until inside the crinkles amaretti become lightly brown.

CHEWY ALMOND MACAROON BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Put the ground almonds and sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix to combine.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy, then add to the almond and sugar mixture. Stir well - it will form a slightly sticky mixture but should hold its shape.
• Wet your hands lightly and roll a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into a ball between your palms - it should be about 4cm in diameter. Put on the tray and flatten slightly with wet fingers to a thick disc, leaving at least 3cm between each biscuit. Press a blanched almond into each one, if you like.
• Bake for 18-20 mins until just starting to turn golden around the edges, then remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. You want them to have a chewy, soft centre and the darker they get the harder the middle will be.
• To make cinnamon balls, add the cinnamon to the almonds and sugar before you add the egg white. When shaping, leave them as balls. Bake for 18-20 mins - you want them to stay soft in the centre. While they are still warm, put them gently in a bowl of icing sugar and turn to coat. Leave until completely cooled.