Amaretti are sweet almond cookies – or more precisely, small almond macaroons. Their homeland is Italy. They’re made from whipped egg whites and ground almonds, without any flour, and flavoured with amaretto liqueur, which gives them their distinctive aroma. Sometimes chocolate is added, or two biscuits are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam. Traditionally, they’re served with dessert wine or liqueur, alongside ice cream, or crushed and used in other desserts to enhance flavour. They’re also wonderfully simple to make – even beginners will have no trouble :).
Makes about 100 small biscuits.
Ingredients for Amaretti cookies:
- 340 g ground almonds
- 300 g icing sugar, sifted
- 4 egg whites (from large eggs)
- 30 ml Amaretto liqueur (or almond extract/flavouring as an alternative)
Mix the ground almonds with the sifted icing sugar. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the almond and sugar mixture – you should get a thick, sticky batter. Add the liqueur and mix to combine.
Grease a baking tray lightly with butter. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe small rounds onto the tray (they will roughly double in size during baking). Alternatively, spoon small portions onto the tray. If needed, use a spoon dipped in water to gently flatten any peaks on the tops.
Bake at 160°C for about 15–20 minutes, until golden brown. Baked for a shorter time, they will be soft and chewy inside; baked longer, they will be drier and crisp.
Enjoy!
Recipe by Gino D’Acampo.
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