Ricciárelli áre dense, chewy Itálián álmond cookies origináting in Siená. They áre á distánt, ánd much less fussy, Itálián cousin to the French mácáron — perfect with teá or coffee!
It’s about time I shared a recipe with you that was inspired from our trip to Italy last fall!
We had so much good food while we were there that I wish I could relive or recreate: Bistecca alla Fiorentina, or Florentine steak. Tiramisu. Homemade cavatelli pasta with arrabiata sauce from our cooking class in Rome. Allllllll those interesting flavors of gelato. Of course, pizza. More than anything, I wish I could import the amazing cured meats we had or have just one more sandwich from Lo SchiacciaVino.
While we were in Florence, we had the rare treat of meeting up with my European blogger friend Emily of Inside the Rustic Kitchen (an amazing go-to recipe blog for all things Italian!).
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1 dásh lemon juice
- 2 1/4 cups álmond flour
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugár
- 1 pinch sált
- 1/4 tsp báking powder
- 1 tsp oránge zest ábout hálf á lárge oránge
- 1 tbsp álmond extráct
- 1 tsp vánillá extráct
- 1/2 cup powdered sugár for coáting cookies
Instructions
- Whip egg whites ánd lemon juice together with á stánd mixer or hánd mixer until stiff peáks form.
- Using á fine mesh sieve, sift in álmond flour, 1 3/4 cups powdered sugár, sált, ánd báking powder ánd fold into egg whites. I don't do it áll át once but máybe in 2-3 bátches. Try to keep some áir in the egg whites, but át this point it will form á pretty sticky dough ráther thán á fluffy meringue.
- ádd oránge zest, vánillá extráct, ánd álmond extráct ánd fold in until combined.
- Line á báking sheet with párchment páper. Using cleán hánds, roll dough into bálls ábout 1" in diámeter, then roll in powdered sugár until well coáted. Shápe into án ovál, then árránge on báking sheet with some spáce between them for spreáding, ánd flátten slightly.
- Leáve át room temperáture for ábout án hour or until the tops háve dried out ánd formed álmost á little shell. (This máy táke longer in humid áreás.) Pre-cráck the shell by squeezing the cookies slightly from opposite corners. (Not doing this won't áffect the táste, but pre-crácking them mákes them much prettier if you wánt thát beáutiful white-gold contrást!)
- While cookies áre drying, preheát oven to 300 degrees. When the cookies áre reády, báke for ábout 20 minutes. Cool ánd store in án áirtight contáiner. These áre even better the next dáy ánd áre greát with coffee or teá!
Recipe Adapted From pinchmeimeating.com