Tuscan Almond Cookies Ricciarelli Food

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.

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 - TUSCAN ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until stiff peaks form.
• Use a fine sieve to sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into the bowl.
• Add the extracts and gently fold the egg whites into the other ingredients until mixed.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and use your hands to roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls.
• Roll each ball into the extra powdered sugar until well coated.
• Shape the balls into an oval, and arrange on the prepared baking sheets with room for spreading between.
• Let the cookies sit at room temperature for at least an hour, or until the exterior of the cookies have dried out and feels firm to the touch.
• While the cookies dry, preheat oven to 300 degrees F., then bake for about 20 minutes.
• Cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

"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.

RICCIARELLI

Steps:

• Combine white sugar and almonds in the bowl of a food processor; pulse into a fine powder. Pour into a bowl.
• Combine 1/4 cup egg whites and vanilla extract in a bowl; add to almond-sugar mixture, mixing as little as possible. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from fridge. Sift 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour onto a clean work surface. Place dough in the center and add remaining 1/4 cup egg whites. Knead egg whites into dough until soft and smooth, adding additional confectioners' sugar and flour as needed.
• Roll portions of dough into 1-inch-thick logs. Take walnut-sized dough pieces from each log and shape into diamonds with slightly wet hands. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet and generously dust with confectioner's sugar. Let rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet before serving.

RICCIARELLI (SIENESE CHRISTMAS COOKIES)

Steps:

• Sieve together the Icing Sugar, Flour and Baking Power into a bowel, then mix in the Ground Almonds.
• In a separate bowl, add a couple of drops of almond extract to the egg whites and then whisk until stiff peaks form.
• Stir the stiffened egg whites into the dry mixture until a sticky 'dough' is formed.
• If you are trying the options, at this point add either a tablespoon of mixed orange/lemon peel OR the zest of half a lemon/orange OR a tablespoon of Rum, Brandy or Amaretto.
• Sprinkle a board with sifted Icing Sugar and take a desertspoon full of the dough, roll in the Icing Sugar and form into a ball. Flatten the ball a little with the back of a fork. Continue until all your dough is gone (the amount above should make 12-16 cookies).
• Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and place your dough balls on, taking care to leave space for 'spread' during cooking.
• Pop into an oven that's been preheated to Gas Mark 6 (200C, 390F) until golden brown. This should take approximately 10-12 minutes.
• Remove from oven and leave to cool completely. If you are intending to dip the cookies in chocolate, at this stage you should melt very good quality dark chocolate (70%+ cocoa solids) in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and dip the cooled cookies inches Return them to the tray and cool off in the fridge or a cool place until chocolate is set.
• Ricciarelli keep for a few weeks in an airtight container.