Italian Ricciarelli Recipes

RICCIARELLI

Steps:

• Combine white sugar and almonds in the bowl of a food processor; pulse into a fine powder. Pour into a bowl.
• Combine 1/4 cup egg whites and vanilla extract in a bowl; add to almond-sugar mixture, mixing as little as possible. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from fridge. Sift 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour onto a clean work surface. Place dough in the center and add remaining 1/4 cup egg whites. Knead egg whites into dough until soft and smooth, adding additional confectioners' sugar and flour as needed.
• Roll portions of dough into 1-inch-thick logs. Take walnut-sized dough pieces from each log and shape into diamonds with slightly wet hands. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet and generously dust with confectioner's sugar. Let rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet before serving.

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!

RICCIARELLI - TRADITIONAL ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Place the blanched almonds into a nut grinder or food processor fitted with a steel blade; process to a fine powder.
• Transfer to a mixer bowl and mix in the almond paste with an electric mixer. Add the egg white and mix at the lowest speed until thoroughly blended (the dough should be firm). Add the baking powder and the almond extract (and the orange zest if using), and mix until well blended.
• Use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough into roughly 1-heaping tablespoonful sized balls. Dust your hands with icing sugar and then roll these balls to form little finger sized logs. Place the ricciarelli logs 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets and then flatten slightly. Let stand uncovered at room temperature at least 1 hour or overnight.
• When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 300F degrees.
• Place cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake until the cookies are a very light tan, 20 to 30 minutes. Take care NOT to bake until brown or crisp, as it is the softness that makes the ricciarelli so delicious!
• Generously dust cookies with additional icing sugar while still warm, then carefully transfer to racks to finish cooling.
• Ricciarelli cookies keep for several weeks in an airtight container.

TUSCAN ALMOND COOKIES (RICCIARELLI)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast almonds on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden, 5-8 minutes; let cool.
• Pulse almonds, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup powdered sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Whisk egg white and salt in a large bowl to medium peaks. Whisking constantly, gradually add 1/4 cup powdered sugar; whisk until egg white is very stiff but not dry. Fold in almond mixture and vanilla. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; using wet hands, flatten tops and press sides to make rounded diamond shapes. Chill 30 minutes.
• Bake ricciarelli until edges are lightly golden and firm and centers are still a little soft, 10-12 minutes; let cool on baking sheet. Dust with powdered sugar.

ITALIAN RICCIARELLI

Steps:

• Combine almonds and 1/4 to 1/2 of the sugar in a food processor and grind until very very fine meal.
• In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Now beat in the sugar slowly using a tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff glossy peaks. (but not dry peaks).
• Fold in the almond/sugar fine meal mixture.
• Fold in the orange juice and the zest.
• Using a teaspoon drop onto parchment lined baking sheet, and form into an oval or log, about one to two inches long. Keeping these at least three inches apart.
• Let sit on the counter for one hour to dry.
• Bake 300 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until firm to touch. Do not brown.
• Let the cookies remain on the baking sheets to cool completely, then remove.
• Dust with confectioners powdered sugar.
• These can be made and frozen in plastic baggies for up to one to two months, then dust.