Amaretti Morbidi
I bought some good looking almond cookies at a local restaurant, Paréa, the other week. They were as delicious as I imagined they would be. A little crunch on the outside, and soft like marzipan on the inside. Paréa is a greek restaurant, but variants of this recipe exist all over Europe. In Italy, they go by Amaretti or Ricciarelli. there is a crunchy variant, Amaretti Croccanti, and a soft, chewy variant, Amaretti Morbidi. The Morbidi closely resemble the Paréa cookies, from what I remember. They are surprisingly easy to make!
Amaretti Morbidi
Ingredients
- 250g almond flour
- 200g sugar
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1tsp almond extract
- zest of 1 lemon
- powdered sugar for decoration
Method
- Mix the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a bowl. Make sure you mix in the zest really well.
- Whisk the egg whites just enough to loosen them.
- Mix in the egg whites and almond extract, combine until you have a think, marzipan-like paste. I advise doing this by hand.
- Let the dough rest at room temperture for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 170C / 340F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll 20g balls with your hands, roll them in a bowl of powdered sugar to cover, and distribute them evenly on the sheet.
- Press each ball into a rough cookie shape with your thumb. They will crack a little.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes. The cookies will not brown, but the bottom should be slightly set and they will be fairly soft.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before moving them onto a cooling rack. Let them cool for another 30 minutes.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to dust additional powdered sugar on top.
- Keep in an airtight container for up to a few days.
Great on their own or with cherry ice cream!