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These Chewy Amaretti Cookies are another wonderful and well known treat to come out of Italy and a true Italian classic. They have a crispy outer edge and an irresistible chewy centre. You’ll be hard pressed not to devour the whole plateful in one siting.
On one of my many frenzied baking moments last Christmas, I baked a batch of Ricciarelli, Italian Almond Cookies. I brought some in to work to share with my colleagues. Once in a while they’re my designated and very happy taste testers.
One friend and colleague, Mary, remarked on how much they tasted like her mom’s amaretti cookies.
She very graciously offered to share her mom’s recipe with me and encouraged me to change the recipe to my liking.
But how does one improve on perfection? They’re absolutely amazing, which my family can happily attest! And greedily so as they were gone in mere minutes.
What Are Chewy Amaretti Cookies Made Of
This type of amaretti is simply one of many that can be found in different Italian households.
They mostly consist of one type of almond flour or almond paste with the addition of sugar, egg whites and flavourings.
You can use purchased almond flour or simply grind whole roasted almonds as finely as you can using a food processor.
Whether the almonds are peeled or not really doesn’t make any difference in taste. It does however change the over all colour of the cookie. Peeled almonds will yield a paler looking cookie whereas almonds with their skin intact will render a sun kissed golden brown colour.
You’ll note that in this recipe, Mary’s mom uses one part hazelnuts to three part almonds. I truly love this combo and kept the recipe as is but you can use all almonds instead.
Not only do these cute little morsels have a pretty golden hue, they also smell simply wonderful! And they’re gluten free!
Are Amaretti Cookies Easy To Make?
Amaretti cookies are by far one of the easiest cookies to ever make.
They require just a few simple ingredients so do use the freshest almonds possible.
Not those year old almonds stored why back in your pantry. Or that forgotten batch of almonds tucked in the far corner of your freezer from way back when!
And seriously, you don’t even need any special equipment! Just two bowls. One for whisking the dry ingredients and one for beating your egg white in. Which you can also beat with a fork…or a whisk. Unless you choose to use your electric mixer.
In which case, I’ll leave that part up to you. But just remember not to over beat the egg white. You just want soft peaks!
Tips to making perfect Chewy Amaretti Cookies
An extremely helpful tip that Mary’s mom has is a trial bake. She bakes 3 to 4 cookies to see how they turn out.
If the cookies flatten overmuch she’ll add a little more finely ground almonds to the mixture. If the dough is too stiff she’ll mix in a little more egg white.
I’ve tested this recipe 3 times and each time they turned out just wonderfully. So delicious!
As a personal preference, I chilled the dough for one hour before shaping and rolling the dough in the sugar. This helped achieve perfectly domed shapes.
A cookie scoop also helps tremendously in making equal sized cookies. I used one of 1 1/4 inch round in size.
Use the 15 minutes of baking time as a guideline. Check them after 12 minutes to make sure they are not over browning as not all ovens are created evenly.
I doubled up on my baking pans because these cookies benefitted from a double insulation. They turned out with an even all round crispiness and chewy centres. Light brown in colour with crisp crackled tops…and so pretty to look at!
If you prefer them even more crispier then simply leave them for another minute or two.
These chewy amaretti cookies are especially wonderful savoured with a sweet wine or equally enjoyable with your favourite cup of tea or coffee!
If you make this recipe remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!
Chewy Amaretti Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup roasted almonds
- 1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- pinch of baking powder
- 1 egg white (from a large egg)
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/3 cup extra granulated sugar (for rolling the cookies into)
Instructions
- Place both nuts in a food processor and grind to a very fine sandy consistency. Take care not to turn it into a nut butter.
- In a medium sized bowl whisk together the ground nuts, granulated sugar and a pinch of baking powder. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl beat the egg white to a soft peak.
- Stir the almond extract into the egg white mixture.
- With a fork, stir the egg white mixture with the nut mixture until well combined.
- Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Use a cookie scoop of about 1 1/4 inch round to scoop up pieces of dough and shape them in a circle using your hands. If you don't have a cookie scoop, a well rounded teaspoon will do.
- Roll the cookie ball in granulated sugar and place onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes.
- When ready the cookies will look light brown in colour with crisp crackled tops.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pans placed over a cooling rack.
Notes
Beautiful cookies Marisa! Very tempting…😋
Thank you Lili! I made 3 batches of these beauties in 2 days…we love them that much!
🙂
Love these cookies!!
We love them as well! They’re so cute and taste amazing🙏🏻❤️
When I was still making sweet cookies, almond cookies like these were the ones that I made the most often as they are so delicious. I’ve never made them with hazelnut, but often used part coconut flakes. Another great addition is lemon zest. For consistent results it helps to weigh the egg white. To prevent accidentally making nut butter it helps to include the sugar when grinding the nuts.
I love the idea of using part coconut flakes and will keep this in mind next time! Weighing the egg whites would definitely give consistent results…I’m so used the American cup measurements. Next time I’ll dust off my kitchen scale and give that a go! Thanks so much for your excellent tips Stefan, it’s wonderful getting different perspectives!😊
Amaretti Cookies are my all time favourite. I have a recipe I make all the time, but I have never made them with hazelnuts. That’s a whole other level I can’t wait to go to!
Isn’t it wonderful the different variations of Amaretti Cookies?! These are definitely a must try and beyond delicious!
Marissa, you are one of my go to’s for cookie recipes! These ones look delicious as usual, I I’m pinning to try. Thank you!
Ahhh thanks Colleen! That’s sweet of you! I kind of have a love affair with cookies. Enjoy, these are a real keeper!
I love that these are grain-free! They would make a perfect after dinner treat when I’m craving something sweet. And thanks for all the helpful tips for making them! Pinned to try later!
They’re a keeper Leanne and I’m sure you’ll be making them over and over again!
Can these cookies be frozen? I need a lot and won’t be able to make them all in the days right before our event.
Thanks!
Yes they absolutely can!
Love these cookies. Only problem is they aren’t completely cooked on the inside. I’ve left them in the oven longer and they’re crunchy chewy on the outside but the inside is uncooked. I use almond flour, very fine and completely white.
Thanks
Hey Ivana, without a doubt substituting the ground nuts for almond flour will alter the end result. I don’t believe you can replace cup per cup and achieve same results!
How much ground nuts should you have after processing? I have a bag of ground almonds and want to use that.
Hi Ruth you’ll probably need approximately 1 1/4 cups of ground almonds.
Hi Marisa, love how simple this recipe is! I made it using all almonds and they were awesome! One problem I had was that they did not come out as round as yours and they did not crackle. Any suggestions?
Hi Marisa, next time try making a tight a compact scoop and see if that helps you! I use a cookie scoop and then roll it tightly…hope I’m making sense!
I have a bag of ground almonds. Do I still use 3/4 cup ground?
My apologies for late reply Ruth! If your almonds are already finely ground, you’ll need a full cup!
Can you please tell me the weight of the whole roasted almonds before I ground them. I’m somewhat confused the measurement of almonds and hazelnut is total one cup after you grind it. Thanks
For this recipe I used a total of 1 cup “whole “ nuts!
So I measured out whole almonds and hazelnuts and then ground them!
Hope this helps!
I can’t wait to try these for my GF son. If I’m using almond flour instead of grinding nuts myself, am I using 1 cup? When you grind your whole nuts, it seems like you would yield less than a cup. Thanks for clarifying.
Hi April, using almond flour will not yield the same type of cookie…texture wise! But still just as delicious although I haven’t tested this recipe with almond flour to give you an exact amount replacement.
You may want to have a look at my Soft Blueberry Amaretti cookies which uses almond flour to cake notate the two!
https://marisasitaliankitchen.com/soft-blueberry-amaretti-cookies/
Can I use almond flour instead of grinding the roasted almonds?
Hi Janet, yes you can! The amount might just differ though!
Thank you – sorry, I missed the question above when I posted my question. If you have any other recipes for almond flour, that would be great – it’s expensive and I already bought it lol. I’ll stick with your recipe though for these cookies.
No worries Janet! I have a couple of amaretti cookies that use only almond flour. One is Soft Blueberry Amaretti made using egg whites and is linked in the comment above. The other one is https://marisasitaliankitchen.com/soft-amaretti-cookies/ and is made using both egg whites and yolks. Enjoy!
I lost my mothers recipe and this is the closest to hers,but my mother had orange rind in that, If I put that in how much and do I have to alter the recipe?
Frank you won’t have to alter the recipe. Try 2 teaspoons of orange zest.
One more question ?When you purchase almond flour do you toast the almond flour?
Frank no I do not toast the almond flour.
Great recipe!
I switched out the hazelnuts for pistachios and added some orange rind, very tasty with a nice crunch!
Thanks so much, my go to recipe from now on 😊
The switch-up sounds delightful Maria. Happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipe and thanks for commenting.
I tried these for the first time, and not being sure of my consistency of the ground almonds and pecans ( didn’t have hazelnuts). My test cookie flatten, so I added more nuts, still flatten, but was better. I added more and never did get balls, but they are tasty. I will definitely try again.
Thank you
Bonnie try again with more nuts. Next time I make them, I’ll measure the nuts in grams.