With a crispy exterior and soft and chewy interior, these Italian Amaretti Cookies also known as amaretti morbidi, are made with almond flour and so are naturally gluten-free and simply irresistible!
256gramsalmond flour2.5 cups plus 2 tablespoons (lightly spoon almond flour into measuring cup)
200gramsgranulated sugarapproximately 1 cup
⅛teaspoonsaltpinch
lemon zest from one lemon(medium-sized)
3room temperature egg whitesfrom 3 large eggs
1-½teaspoonsalmond extract
¼cupgranulated sugar (for rolling cookies in)or powdered sugar or a combination of both
Instructions
Separate 3 large eggs. Let the egg whites come to room temperature.
Place a rack in the centre of your oven and preheat oven to 325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, combine the almond flour, granulated sugar, salt and lemon zest. Whisk until blended. Use your fingers to break up any little clumps of lemon zest in the flour. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the egg whites on low until frothy and then on medium-high speed until medium firm peaks form. Add almond extract to the egg whites and gently combine.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the almond flour mixture until the mixture is well combined and becomes a sticky dough.
Using a small cookie scoop (size 60), scoop dough ball. Use your hands to roll the dough until you have a smooth ball and then roll it in the granulated sugar. The balls should be just a bit over 1-inch wide in size. Place the cookie balls onto the baking sheet, spacing them about an inch and a half apart. Repeat until your sheet is full.
Bake in the oven for approximately 16-18 minutes or until bottoms are lightly golden and tops are firm to the touch.
Let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to wire rack to continue cooling.
Notes
The easiest way to get even sized cookies is to use a cookie scoop. For these Amaretti cookies, I like to use one that's about 1.25 to 1.5 inch wide, or a size 60 scoop. A size 60 scoop will hold just about 1 tablespoon of liquid. So if you don't own a cookie scoop, you can use a tablespoon to portion the dough.
For best results, I recommend using a food scale for this recipe. Without a scale, you could end up using a bit more almond flour than you should. If you must use cups to measure, fluff the flour with a fork or small whisk before measuring. Then lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Make sure to not pack the flour in and don't tap the cup on the counter. Use a straight-edged utensil to level off the cup.
*Recipe updated October 10, 2021 to use 9 grams less almond flour than in the original version of this recipe.