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Crisp on the outside with a delightful chewy centre, this Italian Amaretti Cookie recipe is one of many Italian classics that make a perfect addition to any holiday cookie platter. They’re also just cute as a button and are sure to disappear in a flash.
Whether you’re baking them for the holidays or adding a little Italian sweet charm to your kitchen, these cookies are delightfully simple and always impressive.
Made with roasted ground almonds and hazelnuts, they deliver a rich, nutty flavour with a delicate texture that pairs beautifully with coffee or tea.
The amaretti cookie recipe you see here today was shared with me by a colleague’s mother, who hails from the Campania region of Italy, and I’m so happy to share it with you.
As with so many treasured Italian recipes, handed down through generations, there isn’t just one way to make amaretti.
From Soft Amaretti Cookies made with almond flour or fruit-filled ones, such as Blueberry Amaretti with a hint of honey. Every family or region in Italy has its own beloved version.
What all amaretti cookies have in common is their almond-based foundation, whether using almond flour or grinding almonds from whole…all making them naturally gluten-free.
Now let’s get baking!
Ingredients for Chewy Amaretti Cookies
You’ll be amazed at the short ingredient list for these little morsels. And equally wonderful is how quickly they come together.
The key ingredients are ground almonds and hazelnuts, sugar, a frothy egg white with almond extract and a pinch of baking soda. These chewy amaretti cookies are a reminder of how a few simple ingredients can create something so delicious.
How To Make Italian Amaretti Cookies
This type of amaretti is simply one of many found in different Italian households.
For a rich, nutty foundation, use freshly roasted nuts and grind them as fine as you can.
1 – Grind the roasted almonds and hazelnuts in a food processor until very fine in texture and transfer the mixture into a medium-sized bowl.
2 – Add the granulated sugar and baking powder to the nut mixture.
3 – Whisk the dry ingredients together.
4 – Mix in the frothy egg white with a fork until very well combined.
5 – Cover the dough with cling wrap and chill for one hour.
6 – Scoop out pieces of dough and shape them into small balls, and transfer them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (I used a 1 ¼- inch round cookie scoop.
7 – Once you have them all shaped into 24 round balls, lightly roll each cookie in granulated sugar. And, return them onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
8 – Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. for approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Mine were ready in 12 minutes. Look for light brown in colour with a crisp, crackled top.
This recipe joins a growing collection of amaretti variations on my blog, each one celebrating a different interpretation of this timeless treat.
You may want to try another variation, such as Ricciarelli Cookies. They’re a traditional Sienese cookie with the same unmistakable almond flavour as amaretto biscuits and equally delicious. And, naturally gluten-free.
With their irresistible almond flavour and crisp chewy texture, they’re perfect for sharing or savouring with your afternoon espresso.
Bake with heart, share with love.
Tips to making perfect Chewy Amaretti Cookies
- For perfect and equally shaped cookies, use a cookie scoop 1-1/4 inch round in size.
- Chill the cookie dough for one hour before shaping and rolling it in the sugar. This helped achieve perfectly domed shapes.
- Use the 12-15 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 prefer mine with chewy centres, but if you prefer a crispier texture, bake them for 15 minutes.
Why have my cookies flattened?
Have your cookies come out flat? It most likely needed a little more of the finely ground nuts. You can make a quick test by baking two or three cookies. Refer to the gram measurements for best results.
If you make this recipe, remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!
This post was originally published on February 22, 2019 and republished on June 14, 2026, with updated photos and content.
Amaretti Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 3/4 cup roasted almonds (120 grams)
- 1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts (35 grams)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- pinch baking powder
- 1 large egg white (beaten till frothy)
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
For Rolling the Cookies Into
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
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 small, separate bowl, beat the egg white with a fork until frothy.
- Stir the frothy egg white and almond extract 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 about 1¼ inches round to scoop up pieces of dough and shape them into a ball with your hands. If you don't have a cookie scoop, a well-rounded teaspoon will do.
- Once you have 24 cookie-shaped balls, lightly roll them in granulated sugar and place them on the prepared, parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes. (I bake mine for 12 minutes, for soft centres. Bake them a few minutes longer for crispier cookies)
- 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
Nutrition
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.
Hi, I made these cookies they are delicious,the only problem is they don’t brown on top or bottom and they are smooth on top they don’t have that crackle look. What am I doing wrong?