Italian Almond Cookies aka Ricciarelli

Folks-

I first had Italian Almond cookies last year before Christmas in Rome. Zhenie, Aaron and I had spent the day at the Flavian Amphitheatre and the ruins of the old forum and Palatine Hill.

Honestly, all of that fits in a surprisingly small area. Very condensed. Imagine the downtown of a small town, not a huge city in an empire.

We spent the day snacking on roasted chestnuts and walking everywhere we could. After dinner and visiting the Trevi Fountain (which is very crowded), we stopped at a cheese and sausage shop to get some picorino romano, and before leaving I noticed they had a display case with baked good in it. I asked for descriptions and decided on some brown almond cookies, getting two to share.

They were unbelievable. Aaron and I had the same response at the same time, both of us immediately looking for the recipe online while walking down the streets of Rome.

Aaron focused on the recipe I'm posting here. It's not quite the same as what we had in Rome. Those cookies were much darker in color, but these taste the same and have the same texture to us.

If you kind of like macarons but find them too airy and sweet, you'll probably like these more. They are denser and don't have that frosting in them. They're also a bit easier to make.

If you're allergic to gluten, these are for you. They are gluten free. Note that this recipe is not vegan though and contains almond flour, so avoid if you're allergic to tree nuts.

Dang. Almost broke my vow of brevity. Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups almond flour

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar plus ½ cup for coating cookies

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon almond extract

1 teaspoon orange zest about half a large orange

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon lemon juice

In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, powdered sugar, salt, and baking powder.

Add egg whites and lemon juice to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat at medium low speed until frothy (about a minute), then at medium high until stiff peaks form. Add almond extract, vanilla extract, and orange zest, and fold in until well combined.

Using a fine mesh sieve, sift almond flour mixture into the beaten egg white mixture. Add it in in about 2-3 batches, folding in each batch. Try to keep some air in the egg whites, but at this point it will form a pretty sticky dough rather than a fluffy meringue.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using clean hands, roll dough into balls about 1" to 1.5" in diameter (or 23-25g each), then roll in powdered sugar until well coated. Shape into an oval, then arrange on baking sheet with some space between them for spreading.

Leave at room temperature for about half an hour to an hour, or until the tops have dried to the touch and formed almost a little shell. (This may take longer in humid areas.)

Flatten the cookies slightly and lightly squeeze or stretch opposite corners, trying to form little cracks in the top of the dried shell to pre-crack it before baking. (Not doing this won't affect the taste, but pre-cracking them makes them much prettier if you want that beautiful white-gold contrast!)

While cookies are drying, preheat oven to 300℉ (150℃). When the cookies are ready, bake for about 20 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container.