Bake

Raspberry Amaretti Cookies

by:
August 26, 2021
5
1 Ratings
Raspberry Amaretti Cookies
Photo by Chris Terry
  • Prep time 40 minutes
  • Cook time 15 minutes
  • makes 20
Author Notes

Amaretti are a cookie that people seem slightly afraid to make. Just because they are often found for sale in beautiful tins with crunchy cellophane and fancy bows doesn’t mean they are difficult or tricky to create at home. In fact, homemade amaretti are the best, like these ones, which are soft and delicious and almondy, with a subtle hint of raspberry all the way through and a hidden raspberry in the center. These too can be given as a gift. Just remind your recipients that the cookies should be eaten straightaway because of the fresh fruit. If you want these to last longer, you can use freeze-dried raspberries instead of fresh.

Reprinted from Nadiya Bakes by Nadiya Hussain. © 2020 by Nadiya Hussain. Photographs © 2020 by Chris Terry. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
—Nadiya Hussain

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Unsalted butter, for greasing the baking sheets
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 3/4 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups (340 grams) almond meal
  • 2/3 ounce (18 grams) freeze-dried raspberries, blitzed to a powder
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 20 small fresh raspberries (or see headnote)
  • 3/4 cup ¾ cup (100 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Directions
  1. Start by heating the oven to 375°F and lining two large baking sheets with parchment paper, greasing them just very slightly to allow the paper to stick to the sheet and not go flying.
  2. Now get on to making the cookie paste mixture by whisking the egg whites in a large clean bowl until they are firm. Add the sugar and fold it in gently using a spatula or metal spoon. Add the almond meal along with the blitzed-up raspberry powder and almond extract and mix thoroughly until you have an even paste.
  3. Have the confectioners’ sugar at the ready along with the raspberries. Take a heaped tablespoon of mixture, about 1½ ounces/40 grams if you want to be precise, and shape it into a flat round disk. Wrap the disk around a raspberry to form a ball shape, pinching it together underneath so that the raspberry is completely enclosed. The paste may crack a bit along the top, but don’t worry. Repeat with the rest of the cookie paste.
  4. Drop each ball into the confectioners’ sugar and roll around until fully and generously coated. Place seam side down on the baking sheets, making sure they are about ¾ inch/2 centimeters apart, as they will spread just a little.
  5. Now bake these for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are just lightly golden. Take them out and let cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
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1 Review

Ashley T.
Ashley T. September 24, 2021
For such a simple, easy-to-prepare cookie, these are very impressive. Definitely a great cookie to bring to a potluck. I didn't have the patience to try and find freeze-dried raspberries in a store near me so I just omitted that part. The resulting cookies were still excellent, as the raspberry complements the almond regardless. If I make them again without the raspberry powder, I might add a little bit more almond meal to get to a less sticky cookie paste texture. Because my cookie paste *was* relatively sticky, I found that what helped was to form the cookie balls around the raspberry with wet hands, similar to making matzo balls.