Something about winter makes me crave the taste and smell of almond. Though I love adding a splash of almond extract to my favorite chocolate chip cookies, I was ready to explore traditional Italian almond cookie recipes.
Amaretti cookies came to mind immediately. As I reviewed regional variations, I stumbled upon Ricciarelli cookies from Siena. What sets these apart from most Amaretti is something so simple and bright: orange zest. I knew I had to give them a try.
Traditional recipes are conveniently gluten-free. This season, let’s make them vegan and refined sugar-free while keeping them delicious!
Ricciarelli are so tasty and easy to whip up, I’ll definitely keep them in rotation along with these almond delights: adorable no-bake hedgehog cookies, gorgeous lemon almond cookies, and cherry almond thumbprint cookies.
Truth be told my very favorite almond infused treat will always be the spumoni ice cream Audrey made in my honor. :)
PrintVegan Ricciarelli
Vegan Ricciarelli cookies (traditional chewy almond cookies with the added brightness of orange zest), made gluten-free, grain-free, and refined sugar-free.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 35 min
- Yield: 10 cookies
- Category: cookies, holiday cookies
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: dessert, vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 2 Tbsp aquafaba (liquid from can of unsalted chickpeas)
- 1⁄8 tsp cream of tartar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1⁄4 tsp salt
- 1 c almond flour
- 5 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp orange zest, about half an orange
- 1⁄2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract
For rolling:
- 2-3 tablespoon coconut milk powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° F.
- In a small mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer* to whip aquafaba and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the remaining cookie ingredients.
- Gently fold in the whipped aquafaba into dry mix until evenly distributed.
- Scoop one tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball then roll into coconut milk powder to evenly coat. Gently roll ball between palms into 2" oblong and lightly pinch ends to make a football shape. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and press with palm or spatula to flatten into an oval. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Sprinkle more coconut milk powder over cookies.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden around the edges. Bottoms will be a golden brown.
- Cool completely and enjoy! Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Notes
*An immersion blender with a whisk attachment or a stand mixer could work. A high speed blender will not be effective and hand whisking will be labor intensive.
Keywords: Vegan Ricciarelli, gluten-free ricciarelli, eggless ricciarelli, gluten-free vegan italian cookies, vegan italian cookies, vegan ricciarelli cookies
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