Amaretti – The Best Biscuit Recipe of the Bunch

Welcome to the ninth instalment of my series where I test out recipes from an obscure 1990s Italian cookbook. This time, I tried a recipe from the ‘Cakes, Biscuits, & Breads’ section: Amaretti:

This fourth and final biscuit recipe was the best of the bunch, and not only in this category – it’s the best in the book so far.

As unpredictable as the past biscuit recipes have been, I’m happy that my final attempt ended on a high note. As has been the case with the previous recipes, the oven directions were vague, but despite this, I’m pleased to say that I can’t find any major flaws with this one.

For the revised version, I still made a few changes to put my own twist on the original…

Adjustments:

• I converted the cup measurements into grams – which I’ve done so with all of the recipes so far – for greater accuracy.
• I figured out specific oven directions so you don’t have to determine what temperature a moderate oven really means…

• Fitting a piping nozzle is advised but I think this is quite unnecessary since the texture isn’t noticeable in the final bake. 

• The recipe didn’t specify how many blanched almonds are needed for decoration, but since the mixture makes around 25-30 biscuits, I’ve specified the same amount so that no biscuit gets left behind. If in doubt, have a full bag ready on standby.

Homemade amaretti truly are worth the effort over the much harder shop bought version – although, I must say that the Lazzaroni variety are fantastic in their own right, wrapped so daintily in their signature patterned papers.

FINAL RECIPE RATING: 9/10

Overall, these amaretti were delicious and I implore you to give my revised version a go:

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Amaretti

Using minimal ingredients and equipment, these show stopping biscuits are incredibly quick and simple to make, bound to impress your next teatime guest.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: amaretti, bake, baking, biscuit, confectionary, cookies, Italian, Italianbaking, Italianfood, Italiansweets

Servings: 25 biscuits

Equipment

• Piping bag
• Electric mixer

Ingredients

• 125 g ground almonds
• 200 g caster sugar
• 2 egg whites
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• A dash of almond extract
• 25-30 blanched almonds
• 12-15 mins

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200℃ gas oven/180℃ fan, and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.
• In a medium mixing bowl, beat the ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites together for about 3 minutes, using an electric mixer on medium speed.
• Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes before spooning into a piping bag with a 1 inch cut at the bottom. [see note]
• Pipe small rounds onto the tray – around 4 cm in diameter- leaving a small gap in between each one. [see photos for reference]
• Place one blanched almond onto the centre of each biscuit and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
• Leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Serve with an espresso or a nice Italian dessert wine.

Notes

• If you don’t have a piping bag, you could use a large freezer bag with one corner cut.
• This recipe makes between 25-30 amaretti, depending on how big you pipe them.
• Store in an airtight biscuit jar or tin for optimum freshness. They’re best eaten the week of eating, but due to the high sugar content, they can still be enjoyed little while longer.

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