Amaretti biscuits

It’s very nearly December, so time to start practising a few recipes that I like to do for little Christmas presents for friends and family. I’m meeting up with some friends tomorrow so I decided to have a go at one of my easiest Christmas recipes – amaretti biscuits. This is a Gino D’Acampo recipe taken from the BBC website – the only changes that I have made is that I roll the biscuits rather than spooning them onto the trays; I use parchment rather than greaseproof paper (and so don’t need to butter the paper) and I make them much smaller than suggested. The original recipe suggested that it made 20 biscuits – I make about 70! I also find that they tend to take longer to bake than suggested (although this could be my oven) – I suggest turning the trays after about 12 minutes so that they bake evenly and leaving them in until they are golden brown all over.

These taste great but I'm still not completely convinced about this recipe - they don't rise or crack across the top in the way I would expect - and they are a bit chewier rather than crisp. Not sure if this is down to the way that I mix in the sugar and almonds - maybe I knock out too much of the air - I'm not sure. May give another recipe a go at some point soon.  

Amaretti biscuits

Ingredients

1. 340g/12oz ground almonds
2. 340g/12oz caster sugar
3. 4 eggs, whites only
4. 30ml/1fl oz amaretto liquor

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Line two tins with baking parchment.
3. In a large bowl beat the egg whites until firm.
4. Mix the sugar and the almonds gently into it.
5. Add the amaretto liquor and fold in gently until you have a smooth paste.
6. Roll small balls of the paste and place on the baking trays – leaving at least 2cm between each as they will expand, whilst cooking.
7. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes and then remove from baking trays and cool on a wire rack.