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Pasticcini di Mandorla

From: ITALIAN COOKIES: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region, by Domenica Marchetti (Gibbs Smith, 2026)
Almonds

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients
Serves: 32
For the Cookies
  • 2 cups (200 g) superfine blanched almond flour; plus more as needed
  • 1 cup (200 g) sugar
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (from about 1/2 lemon)
  • 3 large egg whites (90 g), at room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp freshly squeezed juice
  • 1 tbsp amaretto liqueur
  • 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
For the Decoration
  • Glacé red and/or green cherries
  • Whole blanched almonds
  • 1/2 cup (170 g) honey
Preparation
  1. Measure the almond flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest into a bowl. Whisk well to combine and to break up any lumps of almond flour.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice until foamy. Pour this into the almond flour mixture, along with the amaretto and almond extract. Stir everything together with a sturdy spatula until you have a soft, sticky dough. It should be firm enough to pipe and hold its shape. Sprinkle in a little more almond flour if it is too wet or soft. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C). Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Scoop the chilled dough into a large, sturdy pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (12-mm) closed star tip. Holding the tip directly over the parchment, pipe out grooved sstars about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter, leaving about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) of space between them. You should be able to fit 16 cookies onto each sheet. Garnish each cookie with a glacé cherry or blanched almond.
  4. Bake the pasticcini, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven, for 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Take care not to overbake or the cookies may be tough. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks.
  5. Warm the honey in the microwave until it is loose. While the cookies are still warm, brush them with a light coating of honey. Let the pasticcini cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Did you know?

In addition to almonds being a delicious ingredient in our recipes they’re also heart healthy, gut healthy, and full of vitamins and nutrients - explore Health & Nutrition to learn more. Not only that, almond farmers are dedicated to sustainability - find out how they’re Growing Good.