Ricciarelli Sienese Christmas Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Sieve together the Icing Sugar, Flour and Baking Power into a bowel, then mix in the Ground Almonds.
• In a separate bowl, add a couple of drops of almond extract to the egg whites and then whisk until stiff peaks form.
• Stir the stiffened egg whites into the dry mixture until a sticky 'dough' is formed.
• If you are trying the options, at this point add either a tablespoon of mixed orange/lemon peel OR the zest of half a lemon/orange OR a tablespoon of Rum, Brandy or Amaretto.
• Sprinkle a board with sifted Icing Sugar and take a desertspoon full of the dough, roll in the Icing Sugar and form into a ball. Flatten the ball a little with the back of a fork. Continue until all your dough is gone (the amount above should make 12-16 cookies).
• Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and place your dough balls on, taking care to leave space for 'spread' during cooking.
• Pop into an oven that's been preheated to Gas Mark 6 (200C, 390F) until golden brown. This should take approximately 10-12 minutes.
• Remove from oven and leave to cool completely. If you are intending to dip the cookies in chocolate, at this stage you should melt very good quality dark chocolate (70%+ cocoa solids) in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and dip the cooled cookies inches Return them to the tray and cool off in the fridge or a cool place until chocolate is set.
• Ricciarelli keep for a few weeks in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Combine white sugar and almonds in the bowl of a food processor; pulse into a fine powder. Pour into a bowl.
• Combine 1/4 cup egg whites and vanilla extract in a bowl; add to almond-sugar mixture, mixing as little as possible. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from fridge. Sift 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour onto a clean work surface. Place dough in the center and add remaining 1/4 cup egg whites. Knead egg whites into dough until soft and smooth, adding additional confectioners' sugar and flour as needed.
• Roll portions of dough into 1-inch-thick logs. Take walnut-sized dough pieces from each log and shape into diamonds with slightly wet hands. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet and generously dust with confectioner's sugar. Let rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet before serving.

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with baking or parchment paper.
• Mix the almonds with the caster sugar,2/3 of the icing sugar, all the baking powder and the orange zest.
• In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then stir them into the almond mixture.
• Using a large spoon, mash the mixture to a wet, sticky mass.
• Stir in the almond extract.
• Form oval or torpedo shapes about 2.5 inches long, roll in the remaining powdered sugar, and flatten slightly.
• Put them onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing room to spread slightly (mine doubled in size), and sift the remaining powdered sugar over the tops.
• Leave the cookies at room temperature for about 2-3 hours to dry a little before baking.
• Preheat the oven to 275F/140°C
• Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and a little firm on the outside (the insides should still be soft). Turn the baking tray halfway through cooking if your oven demands this type of attention (mine is rather unreliable, so I got half of them over cooked so the insides weren't soft).
• Cool completely and store in an airtight container.