David Lebovitz’ Italian Almond Cookies

Without a doubt, one of our favourite food writers is David Lebovitz. He’s funny. Really funny. He writes well. His recipes work. And he’s funny.

So a couple of weeks ago we found ourselves in a nut frenzy. This frenzy started when we were to go on a very serious Sydney radio station to talk about baking with nut meal. We have a lot of experience (and amazing recipes in both our books) baking cakes with nuts (what else is there to cook with at Pesach time?) but not so much biscuits or cookies.

I love the simplicity of these Italian Almond Cookies from David Lebovitz. It’s worth reading his post just for the stories on the way to the actual recipe! Who’d ever heard of pine nut syndrome???

But back to the cookies. They’re ideal for Passover, perfect for friends who follow a gluten-free diet and simply wonderful with a cup of tea.

Italian Almond Cookies inspired by David Lebovitz

This is David's recipe (see link above to the original) but we have left out the almond extract.

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Course Sweet Things

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups ground almonds
• 1 cup Caster (Superfine) Sugar
• 3 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp smooth apricot jam
• 1 egg white to glaze
• 2 cups slivered almonds

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to160ºC (325ºF). Line two baking sheets.
• In a large bowl, mix together the ground almonds and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks.
• Fold the whites into the almond mixture, then fold in the apricot jam. Mix the dough until it comes together in a smooth ball.
• Pinch off pieces of dough about 4 cm (1 1/4-inch) in diameter and roll each into ovals.
• In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg white with a fork to break it up. Put the sliced almonds on a plate. Working with 3 or 4 at a time, roll each piece of rolled cookie dough in the egg white and then roll it in the almonds, to coat generously. You may need to press them on with your hands.
• Place the cookies on the baking sheets, evenly spaced apart. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown all over.

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