Italian Almond Cookies (Ricciarelli)
A classic & elegant almond cookie dating back to 14th century Siena in Italy.
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 lemon juice, hand squeezed
- 1 2/3 cups icing sugar (unsifted), for cooking
- 1 cup icing sugar, for dusting
- 2 cups + 1 tbsp almond flour
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 grated zest 1 orange
Instructions
Night before
- Whisk egg whites and lemon juice together until a stiff peak forms.
- Mix in 1 2/3 icing sugar and almond flour. Add almond extract, vanilla extract and grated orange zest.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Next morning
- Line a large cooking sheet with parchment paper. Sift icing powder to lightly coat the pan.
- Form oval shaped cookies with your hands, about half an inch thick (1 cm). Place in rows on the pan.
- Using your fingers, lightly tap each cookie with water. Sift remaining icing sugar over freshly laid cookies before cooking.
- Heat oven to 320 degrees. Cook for 18 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cookies will be very soft when out of the oven. You may think that they're not cooked, but they will harden. Best enjoyed the next day!