Italian Amaretti Cookies

December 26, 2016

Italian Amaretti Cookies

These Italian amaretti cookies have a crunchy crust and a chewy center. I love to eat this Italian classic year round, especially when served with a cup of “Melange”, the most famous Viennese coffee with lots of milk foam on top.

 

I prefer these cookies with a chewy center but feel free to bake them a little longer to get a crunchy cookie all the way. Store them in an airtight container to keep them the way they are for as long as possible.

Amaretti Biscotti Recipe

 

Chewy Amaretti Cookies Recipe

 

Italian Amaretti Cookies (with 1 whole egg, one-bowl)

Yield: 35 cookies

Italian Amaretti Cookies (with 1 whole egg, one-bowl)

These fuss-free Italian amaretti cookies have a crunchy crust and a chewy center. I love them this way. In case you prefer them to be crunchy and crispy all over, simply let them bake in the oven a little longer.

Recipe: Ursula | lilvienna.com

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg (60 g weight, 50 g without shell)
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 100 g (about 1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
  • 150 g (about 1 1/2 cups) almond meal (I used the one with skins but blanched ones are also fine)*
  • Additionally: Granulated sugar and powdered sugar for rolling

Instructions

  1. Whisk egg, almond extract, sugar and salt with a fork until well combined. Add almond meal and mix until the ground almonds are equally moist.
  2. Cover and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or overnight) so that the batter gets firmer. (I omitted this step once and the balls spread into flat cookies, so make sure to cool the batter properly.)
  3. Roll the batter into small balls, 1.5 teaspoons each. Add a little more almond meal if the batter is too sticky to form balls. Roll each ball in a small bowl with granulated sugar first and then, in a separate bowl, in powdered sugar until nicely covered.
  4. Place the cookies onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper with 1-inch space between them (they will spread a little).
  5. Bake them for 12-15 minutes in a 320 F (160 C) preheated oven. Depending on their size and your oven, the baking time may vary. The cookies should still be kind of soft to the touch and they will firm up when cooled. Rather underbake them because you can always put them back into the oven for a minute or two once they are cooled and you have checked the consistency.

Notes

* Update 12/17/2021: In the original recipe, I added 125 g (1 1/4 cups) almond meal. In my new oven, they spread out to cookies during baking, adding more almond meal helps (now: 150 g or 1 1/2 cups). If the batter is still too sticky to form into balls, add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of almond meal.

https://www.lilvienna.com/italian-amaretti-cookies/

 

Did you follow this recipe? You could share your result here. All you need to do is take a picture with your smartphone and send it to [email protected]

amaretticookies made by user using a lilvienna.com recipeCathy: "Thank you for the recipe. They look good. Thanks Cathy" 

Italian Amaretti Cookies was last modified: December 3rd, 2018 by Ursula

19 thoughts on “Italian Amaretti Cookies

  1. Jenn

    I made these and they’re fantastic. I’ve been looking for a good, simple amaretti recipe. This one’s a keeper! Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Jenn,
      Thanks so much for trying the recipe and even more for liking it ;-))
      I make them pretty often year round, and they make a great hostess gift too.

      Reply
  2. Ivana

    I love that this recipe is simple… Uses the whole egg, uses one bowl, and I can mix everything with just a fork. I’ve tried other recipes requiring you to whip the egg whites, and fold in the almond flour, it was too tricky to get it right (and time consuming)

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Ivana,

      Happy to hear that. I am a huge fan of easy, quick, and fuss-free one-bowl recipes so I always try to get them as easy (and of course delicious) as possible. Thanks so much for trying the cookie recipe. It’s an all-time favorite of mine :-)

      Reply
  3. Marisol

    Thank you for this recipe! I made these cookies today and they tasted great. My cookies had the distinctive cracks on top, but they came out looking more like flat cookies. I followed your recipe with the exception of using ground blanched almonds for half of the almond meal. I noticed that as I was forming the cookies the dough was becoming softer. Should I have put them in the refrigerator to firm up before baking them?

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Marisol,
      I’m so happy that you like the cookies. I skipped the part once, where you put the batter into the fridge for at least one hour (better even longer), see step 2 in the recipe. After baking, they were pretty flat. They really tasted gorgeous, but were flat. Did you put the batter into the refrigerator?

      Another time, I used a different brand of almond meal and they were a little flatter too. I added a little more almond meal the next time and they came out great. So, what I would suggest is to add a little more almond meal to the dough, especially when the dough felt kind of very, very sticky, almost impossible to roll into a ball. But if your dough was ok to roll into balls, I’d stick the baking sheet in the fridge for a while, as you do with chocolate chip cookies. If you make them again, please let me know how they turn out. I’m curious ;-) And thank you so much for your comment!

      Reply
      1. Marisol

        Thank you for your suggestions! During my first attempt I followed your recipe exactly, including placing the dough in the fridge overnight. With your advice in mind I attempted to make the cookies again. I’m happy to report that not only did they come out rounded, they were even more delicious! This time I used store bought blanched almond meal/flour. I also ground up the granulated sugar and substituted aquafaba for the egg. Lastly, I formed the cookies first and then put them in the fridge to firm up before rolling them in the sugar and baking them.

        I have to say that ever since tasting the Virginia brand amaretti cookies, I fell in love with these and now I can make them at home. Again thank you for this simply amazing recipe!

        Reply
        1. Ursula Post author

          Hi Marisol,
          So great that you figured out a way that works for you! And amazing, that it works with aquafaba too for a vegan version. Have to try that for sure some day. Thanks for making this recipe. I’m a huge amaretti lover too :-))

          Reply
  4. Jazzy

    I am looking forward to trying your recipe. When I was in my late teens, 40 years ago, my friends parents opened an Italian pastry shop. We pounded nuts for amaretti, and I knew the recipe did not include beaten egg whites. A bit down the line, they got a press that would do that. Has to do with preserving the oils in the nuts. This was long before decent food processors. Not that I own one now. Smaller quantities can be hand chopped finely enough.

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Jazzy,
      How interesting! A lot of recipes only call for egg whites or fold in beaten egg whites. But I tried it with a whole egg since it’s easier and the egg whites will kind of collapse anyways in the batter, and found the result very pleasing. This recipe sometimes is a little tricky though. It depends a lot on the exact temperature of your oven and the brand of almonds, chilling time,…. See other comments. Sometimes they need a little adjusting, e.g. to add a Tbsp more almonds. but for most people, the recipe works out fine. I hope you’ll try it some time and I hope they resemble the one’s at your friend’s parent’s pastry shop :-)

      Reply
  5. Bella

    Hi. I’m confused by the egg ingredient. Does it say to
    Include the egg SHELL? ( in parenthesis it say incl. she’ll)did I read that right? How is that done? Should it be broken up Into pieces? Thanks for info.

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Bella,
      Sorry if I wrote it down so unclear. I meant the weight of the egg includes the egg shell. Usually, an egg without egg shell weighs 10 grams less. But I meant not to include the egg shell into the dough. That would be a different approach for a change :-D

      Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi RogerCat,
      I’m not sure I am following lol. You mean just almond flour (= almond meal) but no almond extract? If you, sure! Hope this was your question. Hope you’ll try the cookies, Ursula

      Reply
      1. RogerCat

        Thank you for getting back with me. I meant almond flour (plus adding extract) instead of the almond meal. I had not realized they were the same thing or at least interchangeable. You bet I am going to try this recipe. I brought my husband one the other day from a specialty store and he fell in love. Hopefully this work for us.

        Reply
  6. Aidan Cunningham

    Kind of late, but how long would you suggest letting them cool? Should they cool on the cookie sheet at all? Or should they be cooled on a baking rack to avoid cooking them more?

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Aidan,
      I always let them cool directly on the baking sheet. This doesn’t take very long since the cookies are small. Maybe half an hour or so? I noticed when baking them in different ovens that they sometimes need more/less time to bake to the perfect texture. It’s best to bake a tray, try them when cooled down. If you like them crunchier, bake them for a minute or two longer the next time (or when already baked, leave them in the cool oven overnight as they will dry out a little), if you want them softer, take them out of the oven a little sooner. Also, the baking time varies if you make the cookies smaller or larger. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions, Ursula

      Reply
  7. Joji

    I’ve made this recipe, it’s wonderful. Other recipes for Amaretti use egg whites only. What’s the difference?

    Reply
    1. Ursula Post author

      Hi Joji,
      So happy to hear that the amaretti cookies turned out well! I’ve tried to make Amaretti with egg whites only versus a whole egg and I couldn’t find a big difference or any, to be honest. I prefer to use whole eggs (usually I don’t have any leftover egg whites) because leftover egg yolks don’t keep very long in the fridge and if you freeze them, you need to defrost them before using, which of course I always forget to do ahead of time. So the use of the whole egg is due to convenience and it basically yields the same results. Ursula

      Reply

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