Soft amaretti cookies

Name: Soft amaretti cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 14
Ingredients: 2 leftover medium egg whites (or 60g leftover whites from any size eggs); 180 g ground almonds; 140 g caster sugar; ¼ tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp amaretto or almond extract; 75 g icing sugar, sifted

Elly Curshen's delicious Italian cookies (known as amaretti morbidi, or soft amaretti) are quick and easy to make, and make the most of leftover egg whites.

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Vegetarian

Makes14
CourseCake
Prepare15 mins
Cook20 mins
Total time35 mins
Pluschilling

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Ingredients

2 leftover medium egg whites (or 60g leftover whites from any size eggs)
180g ground almonds
140g caster sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp amaretto or almond extract
75g icing sugar, sifted

Method

Put the egg whites into a large bowl with a pinch of salt. Use an electric hand mixer to beat them to stiff peaks.
In a separate bowl, add the almonds and 90g of the caster sugar. Stir with a fork to mix well and break up any lumps. Add about ⅓ of the almond and sugar mixture to the egg whites and fold in gently with a spatula.
Fold in the vanilla extract and liqueur or almond extract, then add the remaining almond and sugar mixture gradually, folding gently until fully combined. The dough should have a thick paste-like texture and be quite wet. Chill for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Pour the remaining 50g caster sugar onto a plate, and the icing sugar into a small bowl. Sit the plate on a set of scales. Dampen your hands then use 2 teaspoons to drop 25g dough onto the plate of sugar. Roll the mixture into a ball between wet palms. Roll lightly into the sugar so it is entirely coated.
Drop the ball into the bowl of icing sugar and swill the bowl in a circular motion. This will coat the ball and encourage it to form into a smooth sphere. Repeat, placing the balls onto the parchment-lined trays as you go. If you don’t have 2 trays, leave the excess balls on a plate of icing sugar until you can bake a second batch.
Space the balls out with gaps of at least 2cm, then bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC, gas mark 4, for 20 minutes or until pale golden, risen and cracked. Remove from the tray immediately and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

Cook’s tip

Easy nutty crumbs
When crumbing tofu, fish or chicken, try swapping an egg for a mix of whisked egg white and coconut cream.Pulse a mix of bread and roasted salted peanuts to crumbs, then add sesame seeds. Dust the tofu, fish or chicken in flour, then dip into the egg-coconut mixture, then the nut crumbs before cooking.

Let’s stick together
Egg white is a great natural glue for coating breads, muffins and crackers, encouraging seeds and nuts to stick. You won’t get the golden glaze that comes with egg yolk, but it will work. It also helps to add clumps to granola.

Freeze ahead
Egg whites freeze well for up to 1 month in clean, grease-free containers and can be frozen individually in ice cube trays. If freezing multiple whites, label how many are in each pot. Thaw overnight in the fridge and use in any recipe that calls for egg whites. A medium white weighs about 30g, large about 40g.