How to make Ricciarelli Biscuits, an Italian Christmas Treat

How to make Ricciarelli Biscuits, these Italian delicate almond cookies with a melt in the mouth centre are usually enjoyed during Christmas time in Tuscany. Try them out as an alternative to or in addition to mince pies when entertaining guest over the holiday. And note to self, remember to try our Luxury Cranberry and Whisky Mince Pies.

Ricciarelli Biscuits, also make great gifts, wrap them in cellophane bags and hand them out to friends for a very personal gift.

Contents.

Ricciarelli Biscuits

You will need.

Makes roughly 20-24 Ricciarelli Biscuits.

Oven temperature 190˚c

Making your own Ground Almonds.

To get the best flavour we are going to make our own ground almonds. If this is a problem for you, shop bought ground almonds will work. Try and get the best quality you can to get the freshness. I avoid using shop bought almond essence as its closer to paraffin than almonds. You can buy a very good almond oil but its quite expensive, and may be hard to find.

Using a small food processor, grind the almonds down. This is best done in two batches to avoid the almonds becoming too warm with the friction created. If the almonds are overdone, oils will be released from the nuts and they will begin to form a paste, spoiling the mix.

Split the vanilla pod longways and using the back of a small knife scrape out the seeds.

Take a mixing bowl and add the vanilla with all the dry ingredients. Using a very fine grater remove the zest from the lemon and add to the bowl. Mix everything together and set aside.

Adding the egg whites.

Take the stainless-steel bowl and insure it is spotlessly clean. Any traces of fat on the bowl or the whisk will prevent the whites from aerating.

Separate the eggs allowing the white to fall into the bowl keeping the yolks separately for other uses. Add a pinch of salt to help the whites expand then whisk to stiff peaks.

If you’re not sure how to do this, view the video below to see the process.

When the whites are ready, tip them out onto the dry ingredients and fold the white into the mix to make a soft paste.

I like to leave the bowl to stand for about 10 minutes at this point to allow the mix to settle. paste.

Moulding the Ricciarelli Biscuits.

Take a large flat plate and add a liberal amount of icing sugar. Using two dessert spoons scoop shapes of dough a little smaller than your thumb onto the sugar. Roll the shapes in the sugar, then transfer each one to a lined baking tray pressing the flat of your finger down to flatten the dough slightly.

Baking.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are a light golden colour and the centres are just soft. Cool the biscuits on a wire then sieve icing sugar over the top.

When complete cooled store in an air-tight container where they should be fine for 3-4 days.

Still not sure? Check out our video below.

Enjoy Life!

John.

©John Webber. 2023