Ricciarelli cookies are sweets similar to macarons or amaretti, with the exception that the dough for ricciarelli cookies is typically rested for one to two days before baking. These cookies have a crisp exterior and a chewy interior. They’re made with an almond meal and sugar dough that’s flavored with lemon zest and almond extract. Egg whites, baking powder, and powdered sugar are among the other ingredients in ricciarelli.
Making this cookie is a bit of a challenge. Ricciarelli are made by whipping egg whites and sugar into a whipped meringue, then folding sugared almond meal, orange juice, and lemon zest into it. To thicken the cookie, some ricciarelli recipes call for pastry flour to be mixed in with the almond meal and other dry ingredients, while others skip the orange juice entirely. When making these cookies, fold the dry ingredients into the egg white meringue rather than stirring them in to form a sticky dough.
The dough is then divided into oval shapes about the size of a small chicken egg and placed on a cookie sheet. The blobs of Ricciarelli cookie dough should be placed about a finger’s length apart. Though the uniform oval shape of these cookies is often achieved by carefully piping them out of a pastry bag, they can also be made at home using the teaspoon-drop method.
After placing the dough on the cookie sheet, allow the cookies to dry for an hour before baking. They’re baked until firm, but they’re not supposed to be browned. They are dusted with powdered sugar before serving. After baking, extra ricciarelli cookies can be stored in the freezer. Chocolate or liquor, such as rum or amaretto, can be added to the standard recipe for these cookies.
Almond meal, also known as almond flour, is one of the main ingredients that distinguishes this type of cookie. Most grocery stores carry this ingredient, but it can also be made at home by blanching and peeling almonds before grinding them in a coffee grinder. The grinder must be spotless and free of any coffee or other odors. Blanching nuts is a method of stopping them from cooking by quickly boiling them for a short time and then dumping them into cold water. This makes it simple to remove the almond’s thin peel on the outside.