Soft and chewy Italian Amaretti Cookies aka 'Amaretti Morbidi'. Made with a crispy outer shell and soft and chewy middle, these beautiful little cookies are so delicious and incredibly quick and easy to make (naturally gluten-free).
You might be aware that there are two different types of amaretti cookies.
- Amaretti Croccanti - small crispy and crunchy cookies often served alongside coffee after a meal or used in desserts.
- Amaretti Morbidi - slightly larger cookies with a crispy outside and a delicious soft and chewy inside. You'll often see these cookies individually wrapped in beautiful coloured paper, especially during Christmas time.
Although I love both equally, this recipe will show you how to make the soft and chewy kind.
They're made with just 4 simple ingredients and take around 30 minutes to make, it really couldn't be easier.
You'll notice that a lot of online recipes dust their amaretti cookies in powdered sugar. While this looks super pretty we decided to stick to tradition and dust ours in regular sugar which also provides an even crispier outside.
See the recipe below including notes on ingredients, step by step photos, tips, variations and a video tutorial. For the full printable recipe scroll to the bottom or click the recipe link below
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Ingredients
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Egg whites - use large eggs. Our eggs are always used at room temperature.
- Ground almonds - you'll see from the photo above that these are finely ground blanched almonds. In the US they're known as blanched almond flour.
- Caster Sugar - this is superfine sugar which I prefer baking with but granulated sugar can also be used.
- Almond extract - make sure to use extract and not essence which is synthetic.
Step by step photos and instructions
Whisk egg whites - Put the egg whites in a large mixing bowl with the almond extract and whisk with an electric whisk until foamy. Add 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and continue whisking for a few seconds then add another 1 tablespoon of sugar. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (photos 1-4).
Make the cookie dough - Next, mix the ground almonds with the remaining sugar until combined then gradually fold it into the stiff egg whites (do this in 3 goes) until a sticky dough has formed (photos 5-9).
Roll into balls - Add a little extra sugar to a bowl or plate and roll walnut-sized pieces of dough between the palms of your hands. If you find the dough too sticky you can slightly dampen your hands or dust them with sugar to help with the rolling (photos 9 & 10).
Roll in sugar - Roll the balls in sugar until lightly dusted then place on the baking trays. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until starting to turn golden (photos 11 & 12).
Let them cool and serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Recipe tips
- Rolling out the cookies - I roll the cookies into balls with dry hands and usually quickly wash and dry them halfway through as they can get sticky. If you find the dough is difficult to handle you can dampen your hands to roll them or dust your hands in sugar.
- Dusting in caster sugar Vs powdered sugar - powdered sugar looks very pretty so you can opt to do this instead. Simply roll the balls in powdered sugar and place on the tray to bake. Using caster or granulated will give you a crispier outside.
- Using Amaretto liqueur - instead of using almond extract, you can use an amaretto liqueur such as Disaronno. Use 1-2 tablespoons.
- To get larger cracks in the cookies - leave the amaretti cookies on the baking tray for 30 minutes before baking in the oven. This will allow them to dry out a little and will give them larger cracks.
Recipe FAQs
The cookies you buy in beautiful wrappers are made with either bitter ground almonds or ground apricot kernels. Since Amaretti means 'little bitter things' these two ingredients give the cookies a slightly bitter flavour. They're not easy to find so our homemade version is made with regular ground almonds (blanched almond flour) and almond extract.
Absolutely, I actually love these even more 1-2 days after baking as they get slightly chewier. They last up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.
Yes, once baked and cooled you can freeze them on a tray in an even layer. Once frozen transfer them into freezer bags or a container for easy storage.
You can also freeze the raw unbaked cookies in the same way.
More traditional Italian cookies to try
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📖 Full Recipe
Soft Amaretti Cookies (Amaretti Morbidi)
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- 3 cups blanched almond flour (ground almonds UK) (300g)
- ¾ cup caster sugar (superfine) (150g) plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Equipment
- 2 large baking trays
- Baking parchment
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 320F (160C) and line two large baking trays with baking parchment.
- Put the egg whites in a large mixing bowl with the almond extract and whisk with an electric whisk until foamy. Add 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and continue whisking for a few seconds then add another 1 tablespoon of sugar. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
- Next, mix the ground almonds with the remaining sugar until combined then gradually fold it into the stiff egg whites (do this in 3 goes) until a sticky dough has formed.
- Add a little extra sugar to a bowl or plate and roll walnut-sized pieces of dough between the palms of your hands. If you find the dough too sticky you can slightly dampen your hands or dust them with sugar to help with the rolling.
- Roll the balls in caster sugar until lightly dusted then place on the baking trays.Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until starting to turn golden.
- Let them cool and serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Notes
- Rolling out the cookies - I roll the cookies into balls with dry hands and usually quickly wash and dry them halfway through as they can get sticky. If you find the dough is difficult to handle you can dampen your hands to roll them or dust your hands in sugar.
- Dusting in caster sugar Vs powdered sugar - powdered sugar looks very pretty so you can opt to do this instead. Simply roll the balls in powdered sugar and place on the tray to bake. Using caster or granulated will give you a crispier outside.
- Using Amaretto liqueur - instead of using almond extract, you can use an amaretto liqueur such as Disaronno. Use 1-2 tablespoons.
- To get larger cracks in the cookies - leave the amaretti cookies on the baking tray for 30 minutes before baking in the oven. This will allow them to dry out a little and will give them larger cracks.
- Storage and freezing - the cookies will keep well for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container or can be frozen.
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
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