Golden Almond Amaretti

I have used amaretti before, as part of a torte. At that time, I bought the amaretti. They are expensive and can be hard to find. I’m not exactly sure why I didn’t consider baking my own amaretti, but I didn’t. I was looking through my cookbooks, planning a big baking vent. I came across a picture of these cooking in Carole Walter’s Great Cookies and they looked so good. Hmm, amaretti. That sounds good and I figured I would make them.

I had bought the big bag of sliced almonds at Costco and I really wanted to use them before they got stale. This recipe calls for 3 cups of sliced almonds, so that was fortuitous. These cookies contain no flour, just ground up almonds. I had all of the ingredients on hand, but I’m currently out of Amaretto so I used Frangelico (hazelnut) liqueur. Ok, it might seem wrong to use hazelnut liqueur in amaretti, but I figured it was close enough. It’s just part of the glaze and in the end you couldn’t tell the difference.

Looking at the recipe in the cookbook, I thought it might be complex, but this book just has long descriptions. You grind up the almonds in the food processor, beat the eggs and bland everything together. Dipping the dough in egg and then the almond mixture is super messy and my kitchen looked like a disaster area. But the cookies are beautiful and so tasty. They have a wonderful almond flavor and would be great with a cup of coffee or tea.

2 cups sliced unblanched almonds
¾ cup sugar, divided
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs
3 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
1 cup sliced unblanched almonds, crushed into small pieces
½ cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place the 2 cups sliced almonds, ¼ cup sugar and the cinnamon in the food processor. Process until the mixture begins to clump together, about 60 seconds.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the yolks on medium and then increase the speed and beat until thickened and lightened in color, 2 or more minutes. Add the remaining ½ cup sugar and mix for a minute. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the almond mixture in two additions.

Prepare the glaze: in a pie pan whisk together the eggs and the Amaretto. In another pie plate, combine the crushed sliced almonds and ½ cup sugar.

Shape the dough into 32 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the egg mixture and then the almond mixture. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, just until the bottoms are lightly browned. Do not over bake. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Great Cookies by Carole Walter