Ricciarelli Tuscan Almond Cookies Food

ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES (RICCIARELLI) - GLUTEN FREE!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (170°C fan). Line 2 trays with baking/parchment paper.
• Combine Dry Ingredients: Place the almond meal, sugar, zest, almond extract and salt in a bowl. Whisk together until zest and almond extract is evenly distributed. Add the cherries and set aside
• Beat eggs whites: Using an electric mixer or a whisk, beat the egg whites and honey to soft peaks (Note 5). About 2 minutes on Speed 8 of a handheld beater, or 1 1/2 minutes on Speed 6 of a stand mixer.
• Fold the beaten egg whites gently into the almond mixture. You will seemingly knock most of the air out of the meringue, that's ok! (You actually haven't :) ).

"RICCIARELLI DI SIENA" ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
• In a large bowl, add the room temperature egg whites with the vanilla extract, almond extract, and orange zest.
• Whisk with an electric whisk until you get a foamy consistency. It should not be stiff like meringues but very soft foam.
• Add the sugar and the almond meal and mix with a spoon until you get a paste. If crumbly, knead with your hands until the dough stays compactly together.
• Dust a cutting board with powdered sugar and roll the dough into a thick cylinder, about 2 inches (5 cm) thick, then cut it into 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks.
• Flatten lightly the discs on the board, then give them an oval shape and coat them well with powdered sugar.
• Set the Ricciarelli on a baking sheet, then lightly wet your fingers with water and wet the surface of each cookie (it should be just slightly wet, not drippy), then dust again with abundant icing sugar to coat them well. Tap lightly with dry fingers to smoothen the sugary surface.
• Bake in the preheated oven for the first 5 minutes at 300°F (150°C), then 5 minutes at 340°F (170°C) and the last 5 minutes at 320°F (160°C). Alternatively, you can bake them only at 320°F (160°C) for 18-20 minutes.
• Gently move the cookies to a cooling rack with a spatula and let them cool completely before serving.

TUSCAN ALMOND COOKIES (RICCIARELLI)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast almonds on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden, 5-8 minutes; let cool.
• Pulse almonds, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup powdered sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Whisk egg white and salt in a large bowl to medium peaks. Whisking constantly, gradually add 1/4 cup powdered sugar; whisk until egg white is very stiff but not dry. Fold in almond mixture and vanilla. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; using wet hands, flatten tops and press sides to make rounded diamond shapes. Chill 30 minutes.
• Bake ricciarelli until edges are lightly golden and firm and centers are still a little soft, 10-12 minutes; let cool on baking sheet. Dust with powdered sugar.

RICCIARELLI - TRADITIONAL ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Place the blanched almonds into a nut grinder or food processor fitted with a steel blade; process to a fine powder.
• Transfer to a mixer bowl and mix in the almond paste with an electric mixer. Add the egg white and mix at the lowest speed until thoroughly blended (the dough should be firm). Add the baking powder and the almond extract (and the orange zest if using), and mix until well blended.
• Use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough into roughly 1-heaping tablespoonful sized balls. Dust your hands with icing sugar and then roll these balls to form little finger sized logs. Place the ricciarelli logs 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets and then flatten slightly. Let stand uncovered at room temperature at least 1 hour or overnight.
• When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 300F degrees.
• Place cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake until the cookies are a very light tan, 20 to 30 minutes. Take care NOT to bake until brown or crisp, as it is the softness that makes the ricciarelli so delicious!
• Generously dust cookies with additional icing sugar while still warm, then carefully transfer to racks to finish cooling.
• Ricciarelli cookies keep for several weeks in an airtight container.