Ricciarelli, A Chewy Italian Almond Cookies Recipe
You'll love these classic Italian Ricciarelli Almond Cookies for their chewy texture and yummy almond flavor.
Servings: 20 servings
Calories: 87kcal
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 ¼ cups almond flour
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon orange zest about half a large orange
- 1 tablespoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup powdered sugar for coating cookies
Instructions
- Whip egg whites and lemon juice together with a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Add orange zest, vanilla extract, and almond extract and fold in until combined.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, sift in almond flour, 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, salt, and baking powder and fold into egg whites. I don't do it all at once but maybe in 2-3 batches. 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" in diameter, then roll in powdered sugar until well coated. Shape into an oval, then arrange on baking sheet with some space between them for spreading, and flatten slightly.
- Leave at room temperature for about an hour or until the tops have dried out and formed almost a little shell. (This may take longer in humid areas.)
Notes
Pre-crack the cookie shell by squeezing the cookies slightly from opposite corners. (Not doing this won't affect the taste, but pre-cracking them makes them much prettier if you want that beautiful white gold contrast. )
Nutrition
Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 0.4IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 0.5mg