Gasp--my very favorite cookie! I have never tried making them at home, but I will now. Thank you for posting this delicious-sounding recipe.

I always thought amaretti biscuits had amaretti liqueur in them, otherwise they are almond macaroons, aren't they?
I have a recipe for almond macaroons that are moist and chewy rather than dry, which these sound like, but I'm no expert and wouldn't want to sound mean about it.

Note from Elise: According to Stephanie at The Joy of Baking, amaretti is the Italian name for macaroons.

I have always called these almond macaroons, but make them very frequently. My family adores them. I get my almond flour from the local farmer's market, where the vendor knows me, and makes a point of have at least a pound for me. I put these bags in a larger freezer bag, and leave them in my deep freezer for emergencies. King Arthur Flour's site also has almond flour.

I LOOOOVVEE almond flavored cookies! I'm going to try this recipe ASAP and can't wait for the almond flavor that is going to permeate through my apartment! :)

I live in Norway and I receive many "Simply Recipes" all the time. The biggest problem is that many of the ingredients given, are not available here, for example, Almond flour, Superfine sugar and extracts. Who can I contact to find out which substitutions that can be used?

These look so good! I can't wait to make them. I always thought that amaretti were made with bitter almond and/or apricot kernels??? Thankfully, these ingredients are much easier to find.

I just wanted to note that these are gluten-free and maybe even Passover-friendly. Yumm!

I'm finding old age (mid-40s old age? yikes!) has me trying simpler recipes that rely on fewer ingredients, and focus more on the quality of those ingredients and their preparation.

These amaretti seem to be a perfect example of that.

Now all I need is a nice cappuccino to wash them down with.

Keep 'em coming, Garrett.

Eiven,

You can make your own Almond flour and superfine sugar yourself, in a blender or food processor. For Almond flour, just grind up almonds. Superfine sugar is regular table sugar processed for a few seconds until the sugar crystals are very small, but not yet a powder.

Diane

These are my farvorites! I have never even thought of making them until now - I cant wait!

Do these come out crunchy like Italian amaretti, or chewy like almond macaroons?

Also, is there a difference b/w almond flour and almond meal and does it matter which one is used in this recipe?

Rachelle - Depending how long you bake them they can be either chewy or crunchy. Plus, like biscotti, they become crunchier over time if you go for a longer baking time.

As for almond meal and flour, they're the same thing, though one may suggest a courser grind than another.

I live in an area where we have few choices for groceries... and I never see baker's sugar or superfine sugar out here. Are there any other options other than mail order?

Note from Elise: Pulse regular white granulated sugar in a food processor.

Thanks Garrett!

What about my comment about bitter almond/apricot kernels? Do you know anything about that? The amaretti I buy from Italy always list those (at least one or the other) as an ingredient.

Rachelle - Like many recipes, there is more than one way to make a certain dish. I have seen some call for ground apricot kernels, but it's not an ingredient that's exactly easy to procure. Plus the ones that have apricot kernels have, in my opinion, a slight coffee taste which I personally dislike in the cookie.

Your description of these cookies has me wanting to try this recipe...after such a description I wouldn't have expected them to be easy to make :)

Is there any way I can make the chocolate amaretti cookies?

Thank you.

Lajuana Palmer - Maybe you could add a small bit of cocoa powder? Try it out and write back and let us all know how it turns out! =)

This is a special moment. I have been searching for this darn recipe for YEARS as amaretti are my hubby's absolute favorite. :)

Wow, I tried this recipe and it was great. I don't think my grandma ever made them this good, lol!

These look wonderful. I've never made cookies like this and now at 7:30am I'm inspired to dash into the kitchen to whip up a batch! (I'm sure they'd be great for breakfast. Of course I've never met a cookie I didn't think would be great for breakfast.) Am really enjoying your cookie posts, Garrett. Thanks to both you and Elise for this neat idea.

One question: Is it 1 teaspoon of almond extract in the recipe? Only asking as it says 1 'teaspoons'--and I don't want to mess them up! Thanks. ; )

I made these this weekend, and they are delicious!

Susan - Thanks for catching that typo. It is indeed 1 teaspoon.

I love love love amaretti biscuits or anything with almonds in it really. These look delicious and I'm sure they wouldn't last long in my house!

Thanks, Garrett. I'm excited to try these. I'll let you know how they come out. I'm thinking they'd be great additions to my holiday goodie packages.

I was pretty excited when I saw this recipe, since I LOVE amarettis. Unfortunately, I followed the recipe exactly, no substitutions, and they turned out.. well,, blah...they were not light and chewy in the middle.. they were dense and had a yucky texture. More like an almond macaroon and less like the amarettis I have had at Italian bakeries

I worried about them being heavy after the previous comment so I whipped up my egg whites separately then folded them in. Maybe it was unnecessary, but the cookies were light and delicious.

I loved these cookies...but mine look a little pale, lumpy...generally unappetizing. It's taking some urging to get people to try them. I followed the recipe exactly and also experimented with leaving them in the oven longer to get them golden brown. (It didn't work.) Any suggestions for how to make them look more appealing (and less the target of jokes at my Thanksgiving table)?

Well Rhoda, appealing is really in the eye of the beholder. Almond flour can be used rather than course ground almonds for smoother texture. But if you do use coarse ground, I enjoy seeing all the almondy goodness.-Garrett

Hi Elise,

Do you know if it's possible to use hazelnut meal/flour instead of almond? I have an entire bag of hazelnut meal/flour that I need to use, and my local grocer is out of almond meal/flour.

Thanks!

You would have to try it yourself, but I would think it would work. ~Garrett

Love these! I wanted some chocolate with them for Christmas so I melted a small package of chocolate chips in the microwave for a couple minutes on high stirring once or twice,(they don't look melted till you stir them - don't overheat). I dipped half of the cookies in the chocolate and put them on wax paper till set. You could also drizzle the chocolate over the top. This may not be traditional but it sure is yummy.