ALMOND ITALIAN COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• Put half the almonds and half the sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process to obtain a coarse meal. Repeat with remaining almonds and sugar.
• Put egg whites and almond extract in a medium bowl. Using a wire whisk, beat whites until soft peaks form. Add the almond-sugar mixture to the whites and use a rubber spatula to incorporate the egg whites until you obtain a doughlike consistency.
• Use a spoon or small ice cream scoop to make 24 little blobs weighing about 1/2 ounce/20 grams. Roll each between 2 palms to make smooth spheres, then flatten them slightly. Roll them in a bowl of confectioners’ sugar to coat well and place 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Use the end of a wooden spoon to make little round dents in each cookie. Fill dents with whole, unblanched almonds or Amarena cherries, if desired. Alternatively, leave cookies plain with smooth tops. Leave the tray of unbaked cookies at room temperature, uncovered, for 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Steps:

• In a huge bowl mix almond flour and sugar.
• In a separate bowl beat egg whites with a whisk just until foamy.Start adding beaten egg whites, leaving about 1 egg white for later. Mix with a spatula.Add honey and almond flavor extract.
• Mix the dough with your hands scooping all the dry ingredients from the bottom of the bowl. The dough should be soft but not too sticky.If the dough feels hard and is not coming together add the remaining egg white.
• Dust your hands with confectioners sugar and take a good chunk of the dough. Roll it lightly on a work surface dusted with confectioners sugar.Cut into about ½ x ½ inch pieces. If you have a kitchen scale you can check each piece by weight. It should be about an ounce or slightly over an ounce.
• Roll each piece of the dough in your palms to form a nice round cookie shape. Set aside on a dusted with confectioners sugar work surface or on a tray.Divide and roll the remaining dough.Roll each cookie in confectioners sugar. NOTE: Make sure to sift it before use to avoid any lumps.
• Arrange cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Decorate with candied cherry halves, whole almonds or simply pinch a cookie with your fingers to form an irregular shape - called pizzicotti.
• Bake in a preheated to 350F/ 175C oven for 15-20 minutes.
• After 10 minute mark check on your cookies to adjust baking time. It mainly depends on your oven. The cookies should start to get a light color on top and on the bottom.