What are amaretti cookies? These classic delicious Italian sweet dessert treats contain very little ingredients such as almonds, egg whites, sugar and yummy amaretto liquor… What a lovely bite these cookies are!
Do try out my homemade amaretti cookies recipe!
These amaretti cookies are a great treat.
I even prefer to make them a day in advance even.
Do you fear that the cookies will be too soft then? Don’t worry, they are at their very best when their texture is a tad chewy.
I like my amaretti cookies soft and chewy.
Homemade Gift
I often make them to bring as a homemade sweet gift when we are invited to a dinner party at a friend’s house or when we go visit family.
These sugary Italian treats were also part of the dessert buffet on my niece’s last birthday party.
And last weekend I prepared a batch of these Italian amaretti cookies to take to my neighbours’ bbq party. Someone was also bringing a classic tiramisu for dessert so I thought that these amaretti cookies would be a great match.
I was careful, because 4 other guests were Italian.
Easy to Make Ahead
So I thought it would be a good idea to put these almond cookies to the test first and made a test batch. Only to check whether they would be good enough. Just in case I needed a plan B!
I was lucky, fortunately they looked perfect.
And they also tasted just the way I wanted them to taste.
Yay, happy me!
And yes, the Italian guests also gave me the thumbs up!
Gluten Free
Another great thing about these amaretti cookies: you can also keep them gluten free!
It is true, if you look at the recipe you will see that I did add a little flour to the cookie dough. But go ahead and replace it by extra almond flour if you want to keep these cookies gluten free! That will not make any difference to the texture of the cookies once they are baked.
In fact, I once forgot to add flour and in the end the cookies tasted just the same.
Do you often bake or cook with almond flour?
Almond Flour
I love almonds.
And almond treats and desserts are also very popular here at home.
I added a little almond extract to the cookie batter because otherwise the natural almond flavor and the amaretto are not strong enough. At least that is what I think.
You can also leave it out if you like.
And if you add it, just don’t exaggerate or your amaretti cookies will be way too artificially flavored.
The amount of cookies you will end up with will of course depend on how large or small you make them.
KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini
I made these amaretti cookies by hand.
And a second time using my KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini and a piping bag. For the KitchenAid method: scroll down to the second recipe here on this page!
Video Recipe for Amaretti Cookies
Look!
Watch my video of how to make these cute little amaretti cookies in my fabulous KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini!
Easy Amaretti Cookies Di Saronno
It is the first time that I hand roll the amaretti cookie dough into small balls.
Make sure to wash your hands after each one or your hands will become too sticky because of the sugar in the dough and the warmth coming from your hands.
The reason why I used a piping bag the second time is that my amaretti cookie dough was quite wet and difficult to roll manually.
Egg Whites
The egg whites that I used this time might have been larger than the first time. So that’s probably why the dough was too sticky. Next time I will weigh them to find the best ratio.
Are you looking for more gluten free treats and desserts?
Then you should also check out another sweet gluten free almond treat: my flourless almond cake!
Enjoy!
Easy 5 Ingredient Amaretti Cookies Recipe
Homemade amaretti cookies, delicious Italian treats containing almonds, egg whites, sugar and amaretto liquor...
- 7 oz almond meal (200 g)
- 2 medium egg whites
- 7 oz caster sugar (200 g)
- 2 tbsp amaretto or bourbon
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 tbsp plain flour (optional)
- salt
- Add the almond meal, caster sugar and plain flour (if using) to the blender. Season with a little salt.
- Blend the ingredients until well combined. Pour the egg whites in a high cup and beat them for a minute or so until firm but not too stiff.
- Pour the dry almond mixture from the blender in a large mixing bowl and add the beaten egg whites.
- Stir well until you get a wet crumbly cookie dough. Add the amaretto (or bourbon) and the almond extract.
- Give the cookie dough one last firm stir. Now make little even balls from the sticky dough and place the balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Do this in batches if necessary.
- Then bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 300°F (150°C) for 25 to 30 minutes until glossy and firm. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and let them cool down fully at room temperature.
Easy Amaretti Cookies Di Saronno
How I love these homemade amaretti cookies, delicious Italian sweet dessert treats containing almonds, egg whites, sugar and amaretto liquor…
I made the amaretti cookies in the recipe above by hand.
And for my second batch I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini and a piping bag.
Here is the KitchenAid method!
The first time I hand rolled the amaretti cookie dough. Make sure to wash your hands after each one or your hands will become too sticky because of the sugar in the dough.
KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini Recipe
I used a piping bag the second time because my amaretti cookies dough was quite wet and difficult to roll manually. The egg whites must have been larger than the first time. That is why the dough was too sticky.
Next time I will weigh them to find the best ratio.
Enjoy!
Easy 5 Ingredient Amaretti Cookies Italian Recipe
- 7 oz almond meal (200 g)
- 2 medium egg whites
- 7 oz caster sugar (200 g)
- 2 tbsp amaretto or bourbon
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 tbsp plain flour (optional)
- salt
- Pour the egg whites in the bowl of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Attach the wire whip and lower the mixer head.
- Select speed 6 and beat the egg whites for a minute. Then just the speed to 10 and beat the egg whites for 3 minutes until stiff.
- Turn the speed off and transfer the beaten egg whites to a clean bowl.
- Rinse the bowl of the stand mixer and dry it. Add it back to the stand mixer and pour in the almond meal, the caster sugar, the flour (optional), the almond extract, the amaretto and a pinch of salt. Attach the flat beater and lower the mixer head.
- Select speed 4 and stir the ingredients for 3 minutes. Then add the stiff beaten egg whites to the bowl of the stand mixer.
- Select speed 4 and mix the ingredients for another 3 minutes.
- Remove the flat beater.
- Depending on how moist the amaretti cookie batter is, roll balls of the batter or add it to a large piping bag with a round shaped nozzle. Pipe even dollops of the amaretti batter or place the hand rolled batter balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Do this in batches if necessary.
- If you piped the batter, smoothen the top of the batter dollops with wet fingers. This will make the amaretti cookies bake evenly.
- Place the baking tray with the cookie batter in a preheated oven at 300°F (150°C) for 25 to 30 minutes until glossy and firm. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and let them cool down fully at room temperature.
Italian Amaretto
Yum!
You just gotta love these homemade amaretti cookies!
But, do you actually know what amaretto is?
And means?
Well first of all, this almond liqueur comes from Italy. That you knew already I am sure. But did you know that amaretto originates from the city of Saronno? You might have heard of amaretto Disaronno, right. Just like in the commercials.
Disaronno, or di saronno means ‘from Saronno’.
Bitter
Well I didn’t know that either!
And another thing that was new to me was the meaning behind amaretto.
Amaro in Italian means bitter, amaretto is a diminutive form of it that signifies ‘little bitter’.
I have said it already, amaretto is an almond liqueur. But did you know that it doesn’t always contain almonds? You would think that only almonds are soaked in alcohol. However it usually is a mixture of apricot kernels, peach pits and almonds.
Aperitif
How do you drink amaretto?
You can serve it pure or on the rocks as an aperitif. Or use it as part of a cocktail. And add it to hot coffee, or serve it pure as a digestive alongside coffee after a meal.
You can also cook with amaretto, hence my amaretti cookies.
But there is another far more famous Italian dessert that often contains amaretto…
Tiramisu!
