Amaretti biscuits

After making the Greek almond cookies, I still had 2 egg whites left over from the coconut custard tart, so I attempted amaretti, another favourite accompaniment to coffee.

Ingredients

yields 28 2"-2.5" biscuits (or 45 1" biscuits)

2 large egg white (90g), at room temperature

⅔ C (110g) coconut nectar

1C (120g) blanched almond flour

¼ tsp almond extract

4 tbsp (28g) almond flakes (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Line two or more baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon mat and set aside.
3. In a large, deep, clean, dry metal bowl, start whisking the egg white with a handheld mixer. Gradually add in the coconut sugar while whisking.
4. Continue to beat the egg and sugar mixture with a handheld mixer until it increases in volume and thickens. The mixture should be beige (because of the coconut sugar) and shiny.
   
5. Add in the almond extract if using.
6. With a silicon spatula, gently fold the sifted almond flour into the egg white mixture in 3-4 batches; incorporate thoroughly and until it reaches the consistency of peanut butter.
   
7. Using a teaspoon, spoon the batter into small rounds on the lined baking sheets (use another teaspoon to help the batter drop), leaving at least 1” between each as the batter will spread. Top with almond flakes if using.
   
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden.
9. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer the entire sheet with the cookies to a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool on the mat before removing them (the cookies will harden as they cool).
   
10. Once the cookies are completely cool, remove them from the sheets and store in an airtight container.

These are delicious! Overall, they are lighter than the Greek almond cookies. I didn't bake them for as long as I could have (I say they could be baked for up to 28 minutes at 150°C). The first batch and second batch (baked for 23 minutes) were chewy after the cookies had cooled and particularly so (sticky too!) after sitting at room temp for a couple of days. The third batch (only 6 2" cookies) I baked for 28 minutes and were a bit browner than the previous batches; they were also more crispy than chewy. I like both textures. The crispy ones resembled amaretti while the chewy ones reminded me of the chunky chocolate chip cookies at the M&S bakery. With a hot mug of tea, these amaretti biscuits went down a treat!