Ridiculously Easy Italian Lemon Amaretti Cookies
These easy (ridiculously easy) Italian Lemon Amaretti Cookies (aka Biscotti Amaretti Al Limone) have a thin, crisp outer shell, a chewy interior, and a burst of bright lemon flavor in every bite! A bonus is that they're gluten-free, making them a universal crowd-pleaser!
Servings: 12
Calories: 170kcal
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 large egg whites
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- finely grated zest from 2 medium size lemons
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2⅓ cups almond flour not almond meal
- cane sugar or granulated sugar for rolling
For finishing:
- powdered sugar
Instructions
For the prep:
- Preheat the oven to 325˚F Line a sheet pan or cookie pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
For the dough:
- In a medium-large bowl, whisk the egg whites vigorously for1 minute (don’t cheat!). The mixture will be very frothy and a pale, pale yellow.
- Add the sugar and whisk for another minute (I set a timer). At this point, the mixture will be very smooth and creamy white (a little thicker than heavy cream).
- Add the baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and almond extract. Stir again. Lastly, add the almond flour and stir until all flour is incorporated.
- Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes then scoop into 10-12 equal-size scoops. Roll each portion into a ball then roll in the cane (or granulated) sugar. At this point, the dough won’t be sticky and you can roll them into better-shaped balls before placing them on the prepared sheet pan. Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart to allow for a bit of expansion in the oven.
To bake:
- Bake for 17-20 minutes. The cookies won’t take on much color but the bottoms should be a nice golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
For finishing:
- When completely cool, use a fine-mesh sieve or a powdered sugar duster to add a pretty layer of powdered sugar. I like to pick up each cookie and rotate it to get the sides covered with powdered sugar.
Notes
See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.
If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.
Nutrition
Calories: 170kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 106mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg