While I am dreaming of a white Xmas – which, let’s face it does not look likely – I have decided to make myself a tray of snow-covered cookies instead 🙂 . They are my eggless take on the famous Italian almond cookies amaretti morbidi, except that morbidi does not mean what you probably think it does. It simply means ‘soft’ as, like their traditional counterparts, they are soft and chewy on the inside and a touch crispy on the outside. Heaven! Especially with a cup of good black coffee!
Traditionally these almond cookies rely heavily on eggs, but the longer I am a vegan chef (although I never tend to think of myself as such, I am simply a fussy 😛 amateur cook who enjoys a bit of creative tinkering), the more I am convinced that anything non-vegans can eat, we can eat too.
In this recipe, my trusted old friend aquafaba has done all the heavy lifting and while it’s been ages since I had the original version, I honestly don’t think anyone would be able to tell that these are vegan. Once I refined the recipe, I was thrilled with how they came out and they are now officially part of my Xmas cookie repertoire. They also make a gorgeous Xmas present and I could bet that the recipient would think that you got them in some fancy Italian deli in town.
- 200 g / 2 cups almond flour*
- 125 g / ½ cup + 2 tbsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 75 ml / ¼ cup + 1 tbsp aquafaba*
- ½ tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- ½ tsp vanilla paste or extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- icing sugar, to coat (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 175° C / 350° F and line a large baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the almonds, sugar and baking powder.
- Place the aquafaba (use only 60 ml / ¼ cup if using amaretto*) and lemon juice in a spotlessly clean bowl – even the tiniest grease residue will inhibit the aquafaba from reaching stiff peaks.
- Whip the aquafaba with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form – you need to be able to invert the bowl over your head and the mixture should not move at all.
- Gently fold in 2 tbsp of whipped aquafaba into the mixture and then fold the rest in gently.
- Add Amaretto (if using), vanilla paste and almond extract. Mix really well.
- Form the mixture into balls (I made fifteen 26 g / 0.9 oz balls) and roll them in the icing sugar.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking tray, making sure you leave enough space between them. You can leave them as they are, or gently flatten them a little with your palm. The former look cuter (I think), but the latter get a crispier shell once baked.
- Bake for about 17 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and cracked in places. Allow them to cool completely to crisp up and become less fragile.
- Store them in an airtight jar for up to 5 days.
*You can add a dash of amaretto liqueur like Disaronno for more flavour. If you do, replace 1 tbsp (15 ml) of aqauafaba with 1 tbsp (15 ml) or amaretto. Do not add amaretto until step 6.
If you are looking to use eggs, I suggest you find a traditional amaretti recipe as I don't use eggs so I cannot be sure how to adapt this recipe to suit you. Hope this helps. Ania
p.s I used Almond meal from a shop.
When you say you used ground almonds, do you mean ground at home? The ones you buy are ground much finer than what you can achieve at home so this is why the cookies where too wet - the finer the almonds the more absorbent they are. What makes it even more complicated is that here, in the UK, almond flour is very often called 'ground almonds' (see this Tesco packaging) and this is what I used. Glad you enjoyed them, even if they didn't quite look like in my photos. Ania
I'm sorry they didn't come out as well as you expected, but that's because you went a little off piste. The recipe does not call for aquafaba to be reduced and so effectively you reduced the amount of liquid used, which is exactly why they came out dry and hard. If you decide to make them again, simply use aquafaba straight from a can. Hope this helps. Ania
Do you think these would turn out using monk fruit sweetener instead?
I have never used monk fruit so it's hard for me to say but sugar is responsible for structure of these (not just sweetness) so you may run into trouble. x Ania
They should be fine to freeze after baking, but I would recommend freezing them BEFORE baking instead - there is nothing better than a freshly baked cookie. Hope this helps! x Ania
I've just baked these, and although they taste delicious, they are totally flat! when you said roll them, I couldn't as the mixture was so wet.
I used the correct amount of aqua faba but do you think I needed to whisk it for longer?
Yours look so beautiful and I'm feeling very frustrated 😠
Sorry to hear you've had trouble. No, they should not be flattened (please see the photo where I roll the balls in icing sugar) and from your description it does sound like your ratios were off. I recommend weighing the dry ingredients for accuracy and you need 75 ml (5 tbsp) of liquid in total so if you are using Amaretto, take away 1 tbsp (15 ml) of aquafaba. I hope this helps! x Ania
This is a winning recipe even after I messed up a bit by adding all the aquafaba in addition to amaretto. Nothing a few extra minutes in the oven didn’t solve! The taste and texture were a delight and I really appreciated the subtle sweetness. My husband is not usually one to snack on sweets and he has been enjoying these so much too. I am going to include these in our holiday cookie gift boxes this year. Cannot wait to impress our friends!
I hope they came out well - if there is too much liquid they may simply just require a longer baking time. The recipe calls for 75 ml of liquid in total (which is ¼ cup + 1 tbsp in imperial measurements). If using Amaretto, simply use 15ml / 1 tbsp of it and 60 ml / ¼ cup of aquafaba. Hope that helps! Ania
That's fantastic to hear, I am really happy to hear that your daughter can still have her favourite treats despite her allergy. I am a massive fan of using aquafaba and have done countless recipes with it. Here are some ideas if you want to explore further. x Ania
If you have a coffee grinder (or something similar), it may be worth grinding your sugar a little finer - that's what caster sugar is, superfine sugar. You can use as is but it may not fully dissolve in the oven and therefore make these a little crunchy - that's my guess anyway, I haven't tried with granulated sugar. Hope it works out well. x Ania
Sounds like you like them a little sweeter, which can easily be adjusted as per my notes under the recipe. No other reader found them insufficiently sweet and neither do I so perhaps you are simply used to sweeter desserts. Using amaretto, extract and lemon juice is absolutely fine. I worry that you've used xylitol instead of sugar, which is maybe we they came out a bit different to what you expected? Amaretti rely on sugar not just for sweetness but also structure. Hope this helps! Ania
I found them really sweet... I used 1/2 cup + only 1 tbs of caster sugar (super fine sugar for Americans) and a bit more of Ameretto, the taste was better like this in my opinion. The biggest issue (and my oven is new) was the time, 17, 18 minutes was not enough time for my cookies, they were not 'golden', so watch them carefully. For me 20 minutes was the right time in the oven.
Thank you for this recipe, I LOVE IT !
Thank you, I am so happy to hear that you and all your giftees enjoyed these cookies. I have not tried making them this far in advance, but I think the key thing would be to lock them away from moisture in an air-tight box. How about freezing them before or after baking instead? I would say the former would be the safest thing to do. Hope this helps! x Ania
If you want a delicious treat, bake these. If you want to be the most popular person amongst your friends, bake these. If you want to feel like a kitchen goddess who could rule the world should she wish, bake these.
I followed the recipe exactly as it is. Beautiful. The only thing I changed the baking time. I baked for 20 min and mine are still a little paler than the ones pictured on the website. Obviously I need to fine tune this. Only little question I had was the cooling part. I took them out of the oven once baking time finished. Should I have left them in there longer with oven switched off?
I’ll be making these again for Christmas- I am sure they will be a hit! Thank you so much for this recipe!
The amaretti cookies were delicious and the family loved them.
Thanks
Had been looking for a eggless option, being a vegetarian.
Really thanks appreciate.
Wish you lots of success and do create more.