High altitude amaretti cookies made with almond flour and whipped egg whites, flavored with almond extract and coated in powdered sugar. These gluten free almond cookies are crisp on the edges, with chewy centers that tasted like marzipan or almond paste.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for burnt almond cake, almond pound cake, and almond amaretto bars.
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What are Amaretti Cookies?
Amaretti are traditional Italian almond cookies. They have an egg white base, like macarons, macaroons and meringues. Amaretti cookies contain very few ingredients, usually almond flour, sugar and egg whites, with bitter almond oil from either almond pits or apricot pits. Since bitter almond oil is not a common ingredient in the US (the sale of bitter almonds is actually prohibited here due to their toxicity), I’ve added almond extract to my cookies to intensify the almond flavor.
Don’t confuse amaretti with amaretto, which is an almond flavored liqueur. Today’s recipe for almond flour cookies does not contain alcohol.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No Chill Time. The cookie dough comes together quickly, and then there’s no chill time needed before baking the cookies.
Naturally Gluten Free. With almond flour instead of wheat flour, amaretti cookies are a naturally gluten free dessert. They’re also dairy free (no ingredients containing milk proteins), but they do contain egg whites.
Easy to Make. You really can’t mess up this recipe. Although it contains egg whites and almond flour just like macarons, this is not a delicate, finicky batter like what you’re working with when making macarons. After coating the dough balls in powdered sugar and baking the cookies, the cookies crack and crackle as they spread slightly, which just looks so pretty.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Egg Whites. When you separate your eggs, be sure that the yolk doesn’t break, since you don’t want any trace of fat in the whites.
- Cream of Tartar. Helps to stabilize the whipped egg whites.
- Almond Extract. This adds flavor, since you won’t get a strong almond flavor from just the almond flour.
- Almond Flour. Blue Diamond is the brand of almond flour that I use. This is simply finely ground and sifted almonds.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar sweetens the cookies, and also helps them to spread and crack.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Cardamom. This is a really nice spice to pair with almond, but you can leave it out if preferred.
- Powdered Sugar. For coating the cookies.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Stack two large baking sheets on top of each other, and line the top baking sheet with parchment paper. Doubling up on the baking sheets helps the bottoms of the cookies to not brown too quickly.
- Soak a cotton ball or paper towel with vinegar or lemon juice, and wipe down your mixing bowl and whisk attachment, to be sure it’s free of any lingering grease or fat.
- Pour the egg whites into the cleaned bowl and add the cream of tartar. Whip the egg whites on medium high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes, then stir in the almond extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour, granulated sugar, salt and cardamom. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and use a spatula to stir everything together into a moist and sticky dough.
- Use a small cookie scoop with a release lever to scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Roll the dough smooth between your hands, coat generously in the powdered sugar, then arrange the dough balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes, until the surface of the cookies is cracked and crisp, but the centers are still moist and chewy.
- Cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
I don’t recommend grinding your own almonds for this recipe, since it can be difficult to grind them finely enough at home, without just turning it into almond butter.
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High Altitude Amaretti Cookies (GF)
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Small Cookie Scoop with Release Lever (1 tbsp capacity)
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ¾ tsp almond extract
- 2 ¼ cups (7.2 oz) finely ground almond flour
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom, optional
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Stack two large baking sheets on top of each other, and line the top baking sheet with parchment paper. Doubling up on the baking sheets helps the bottoms of the cookies to not brown too quickly.
- Soak a cotton ball or paper towel with vinegar or lemon juice, and wipe down your mixing bowl and whisk attachment, to be sure it's free of any lingering grease or fat.
- Pour the egg whites into the cleaned bowl and add the cream of tartar. Whip the egg whites on medium high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes, then stir in the almond extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour, granulated sugar, salt and cardamom. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and use a spatula to stir everything together into a moist and sticky dough.
- Use a small cookie scoop with a release lever to scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Roll the dough smooth between your hands, coat generously in the powdered sugar, then arrange the dough balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes, until the surface of the cookies is cracked and crisp, but the centers are still moist and chewy.
- Cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
I hope you all love this recipe as much as I do!
Can you freeze these cookies?
I would think so. I freeze many cookies with great results, although I didn’t freeze any of these.