Delicious and soft Italian amaretti cookies. Amaretti cookies are essentially Italian macaroons which you can find as hard, crunchy biscuits or soft amaretti cookies. And the good thing is; you only need 4 ingredients to make them!
As mentioned this amaretti recipe is a little softer than what you might expect. And also not very bitter as I did not use bitter almonds or bitter almond extract. For the traditional Italian cookies, bitter almonds are used, but I just like it better with normal almond flavor. If you want you can definitely choose the bitter almonds.
Amaretti are one of those cookies that I didn’t eat for a really long time because I didn’t like them or so I thought. As a kid I once popped a Dutch version of a amaretti cookie in my mouth thinking it was actually a large Dutch spiced cookie. So imagine my disappointment when I tasted the amaretti cookies. I didn’t eat them for years afterwards. All because of that one mistake!
But I love these chewy amaretti cookies. So delicious! Especially hot out of the oven. Crispy on the outside and with a nice chewy center.
Other than these simple ingredients you will need a baking tray or cookie sheet, a large bowl and a piping bag with a round nozzle of around 3 cm in diameter or 1.2 – 1.5 inch. And the good news is that for these amaretti biscuits you do not need to whip any egg whites to stiff peaks as you might find in other recipes.
This recipe is super easy as the only thing you need to do is to mix all the dry ingredients together with the egg whites. You can use a food processor for this or simply use a whisk.
And that’s all there is to it!
Once you’ve made your sticky dough you add the mixture into the piping bag and you pipe into rounds. If you’re struggling getting even sized cookies you can – before piping the cookies – trace circles on the opposite site of the baking or parchment paper.
Use a coin that is roughly the right size. Now turn the paper over so the traced circles are not on the side of the paper you’re actually placing the dough. If all goes well you will still be able to see the lines of the circles you made. Which will make it easier to pipe them in the same size.
Alternatively you could use a small cookie scoop to create the same size cookies.
The baking time of the cookies is roughly between 12-14 minutes or until they are lightly colored. Let them cool down on a wire rack to room temperature before adding to an airtight container. Check the full recipe below the FAQ.
Both of these cookies use almond flour and egg whites, but in general amaretti cookies are a bit crunchier and a bit more rustic. They also don’t have those famous ‘feet’ at the bottom of the cookie. Macarons are also usually filled and amaretti cookies are presented in a single layer.
Good news! Amaretti cookies are already gluten free as the only ‘flour’ component is almond flour. So these chewy cookies can be enjoyed by everyone. The perfect recipe for any holiday season!
Yes you can easily add other flavors to the amaretti cookies recipe. Think about adding some lemon zest, orange blossom water or cocoa powder. You can also vary with the type of extract you’re using.
You can give a little dusting of icing sugar on top of the cookies before baking which will create that classic crack a little easier.
The amaretti cookies are done when the edges have a light brown color but the top is still quite pale.
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