These cookies somehow take me back to my childhood. No, I’ve never baked them before, we never even baked Amaretti or had almond flour available when I was growing up but the flavor reminds me of Amaretti cookies my parents used to buy during the Holidays. They were a tan color, tiny and crunchy (not like the ones in this recipe that are so soft and chewy!) but I always enjoyed them so much with my afternoon coffee or tea. I guess the reason we ate them during December holidays was that it was the only time in the year where all imported items from Italy would become available at the grocery stores, hence, they would arrive at our tables!
This post has been sponsored by Baahtcha and I have used their delicious Matcha powder to create this recipe.
These Matcha Amaretti Cookies are so simple and easy to make, it doesn’t take much effort to put together. Having a stand mixer really helps for beating the egg whites with the sugar much quicker, but it can also be done using a handheld electric mixer. Just make sure you whisk/s and bowl are clean, remember that a greasy bowl or whisk can make your egg whites stay flat and no matter how much you beat it, it won’t whip to a fluffy white foam.
Once you have whipped the egg whites to soft peaks, you will then add them with the dry ingredients previously sifted to combine (almond flour, sugar, matcha, and salt) along with the almond extract. This step will remind you or make you think of a French Macaron but don’t fret! you DO NOT need to be gentle, just mix them until no more egg whites are visible and you have a homogeneous mix. The dough will be VERY sticky and will probably remind you of that almond paste you’d normally make while using the Italian Meringue method for making Macarons.
Once the dough is combined, with the help of a small cookie scoop, roll dough into a ball and then roll them into the icing sugar, making sure to cover all sides of it. You can skip the icing sugar if you are making a gluten-free version, or use a GF icing sugar. Note most of the time, store-bought icing sugar is mixed with cornstarch which makes it not GF.
Once rolled and covered in icing sugar, place on the sheet lined with parchment paper. Because of the ingredients on these cookies, we will use double baking trays (one on top of the other) just so that it bakes more evenly and the cookies don’t brown much. These cookies are meant to stay soft and chewy with very minimal to no browning at all, so using light baking trays and double trays will help with this.
When baked, the matcha amaretti cookies will expand, creating those crinkle cookie look and letting that gorgeous green color shine through! I mean look how cute they look!! I promise you will love these if you like Matcha flavored goodies.
Matcha Amaretti Cookies (Gluten free version available)
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (200g) almond flour, sifted
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (5g) matcha powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- confectioners’ sugar, as needed (leave out for Gluten Free version)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C) and stack two baking sheets (preferably light in color) and line the top cookie sheet with parchment paper. Stacking will prevent the cookies from browning too much in the oven.
- In a large bowl sift the almond flour, sugar, matcha powder and salt, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a clean bowl of a stand mixer set with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with lemon juice until soft peaks form.
- Add almond extract and beaten egg whites to the almond flour mixture and mix until well combined and until all the egg white has been incorporated, you can use a spatula or your hands. It will be a very sticky dough.
- Place confectioners’ sugar in a deep bowl and dust your hands with it. With the help of a small cookie scoop, scoop and roll dough into a ball, then roll into the powdered sugar, for a gluten free version skip the confectioners’ sugar unless using a GF confectioners’ sugar. Arrange on parchment paper about 1 inch apart from each other as these will expand a little bit.
- Bake 30-35 minutes until the tops are cracked if using double baking sheets. If you are not using double baking sheets, bake for 20min and keep an eye on the cookies so that they don’t brown too much. Longer baking time will give you a crunchier cookie.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Carefully remove cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will be very soft when coming out of the oven and may break if removing them before they have cooled.
- Store cookies on an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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