The Saturday Kitchen – Easy, Successful Amaretti Cookies

I love the distinctive flavour of almonds. They lend themselves so nicely to all sorts of dishes, from hefty sweet pies to flourless cakes, cookies to Chinese desserts like almond cream with red bean-filled rice balls and delicately brittle Chinese almond cookies. I enjoy them on top of fragrant, spiced pilafs both Indian and Middle Eastern, as well as on top of ice cream sundaes dripping with chocolate sauce. My mother, a retired chemistry teacher, does not share my sentiment. She does not enjoy the flavour of benzaldehyde, she says – which is the almond flavour that I like. Hydrogen cyanide smells just like it, she tells me, to strengthen her case against the nut. That may well be, but I am not dissuaded.

While exploring the fabled beaches of Sardinia on a recent trip, we came across a farmer’s market laden with fresh cheeses, handmade woodcraft, hats and olives. It was at a stall there that I sampled some excellent amaretti cookies. Plump and rounded, with cracks on the edges, hiding the delights of chewy, fluffy, almond-y insides. I bought a few bags, nibbled my way through them and vowed to make them myself. Over the course of this past year and after numerous unsatisfactory attempts, I have finally achieved a cookie that I am happy with, and eager to share.

What makes this recipe different from most others is whisking the egg white. While many recipes call for vanilla essence, I used 1/2 tsp of almond essence because I do like the flavour of benzaldehyde. But if you don’t love it as much as I do, use vanilla essence instead. The dough is very very sticky, so wet your hands when you shape them to prevent the dough from sticking. This is a Chinese technique and which makes handling the dough much easier. I have also used significantly less sugar as I don’t like my cookies cloyingly sweet. (Do remember that each will be coated in sugar as well before baking, which adds even more sweetness.) Finally, I used castor sugar rather than icing sugar for dusting as I like the added sparkle and crunch of sugar crystals.

I have been enjoying these with my morning coffee, and hope you would too.