Chef Gina Veneziano Bakes Soft Amaretti Cookies

Dec 9, 2020 7:00AM UTC

Hailing from a long line of chefs, Gina spent much of her early childhood at her family’s restaurant. Always wanting to make a career of it, she has spent the last 15 years doing everything from interning at a butcher shop to concepting food trucks to catering sales to most recently, recipe development and culinary innovations. She prides herself on being the only person to successfully recreate her grandmother's famous meatballs - you can usually catch her, apron on, and a glass of prosecco in hand - cheers!

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I am in full-blown holiday mode – and nothing says “holidays” to me more than baking cookies! Similar to my stuffing recipe from last week, I make this recipe year-round, but these Amaretti cookies really shine in winter time, resembling little snowballs, these puffs of goodness are heavenly! With minimal ingredients, these cookies are more about technique but don’t let that worry you, with just a few tips and tricks these will quickly become one of your go-to cookie recipes – easy yet impressive and oh so tasty (barring you like almond flavor, of course!). They are a little crusty on the outside and super soft on the inside, they feel delicate and fancy, yet they are durable and simple (but that can be our little secret). Bonus – these are naturally gluten-free, AND they hold their form, so they are the perfect goodie to send loved ones that you may not see in person this year. I usually double the batch as the yield is a tad too small to allow you to both give away some and enjoy a few for yourself. However, since they still taste soft and fresh for 8-10 days, you’ll have plenty of time to work your way through the larger batch – but let’s be honest, I usually go through mine in far less time. Enjoy!

Soft Amaretti Cookies

Prep Time: 20 min

Total Time: 50 Min

Makes: 14-16 Cookies

Ingredients

2 ¼ CUPS ALMOND FLOUR
1 CUP GRANULATED SUGAR
A PINCH OF SALT
2 LARGE EGG WHITES
¼ TEASPOON LEMON JUICE
½ TEASPOON ALMOND EXTRACT
POWDERED SUGAR, AS NEEDED

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack 2 similar-sized baking sheet on top of each other and line with a Silpat mat (wax paper will work as well). The heavier bottomed baking sheet will keep the bottoms of the cookies from browning.
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt) in a medium bowl
In a separate bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites and lemon juice until soft peaks form. An indicator of “soft peaks” is when you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks hold themselves up briefly, then start to “melt” back into themselves.
Add egg whites and almond extract into the bowl with dry ingredients. Mix until a sticky dough ball forms
Pour a small amount of powdered sugar into a separate bowl and coat your hands with the powdered sugar. Pull off about 1-inch balls of dough from the larger dough and roll in powdered sugar, so the dough is no longer as sticky; form a smooth small ball with your hands and place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 25-30 mins. You don’t want these cookies to “brown up” as a signal that they are done; rather a quick tap to feel how hard or soft they are will be a best indicator.

About Chef Gina Veneziano

Chef Gina has spent a lifetime in food – from the butcher shop to food trucks, and catering kitchens to innovation kitchens. She prides herself in being the only person to successfully recreate her grandmother’s famous meatballs. You can usually catch her, apron on, and a glass of prosecco in hand – cheers!