Chocolate Dipped Almond Macaroons
Ever since we returned from Italy, I’ve been (unsuccessfully) trying to recreate what may have been the best thing I ate the entire time I was there. Amaretti Morbidi, or soft Amaretti cookies. Not to be confused with the little crunchy amaretti cookies, which, aside from the delicate almond flavor, are completely different creatures.
So far, I have not been able to recreate the soft, cloud-like texture of the cookies I enjoyed in Italy. Boo hoo.
These were my best attempt. And while they were quite delicious (as anything almond-flavored will be), they were chewy. Definitely macaroons rather than amaretti. Maybe I used too much egg white. Maybe I baked them too long. Who knows.
All I know is when dipped in chocolate, they were by no means a failure. A failure only in the sense that they were not the cookies I intended, but if you looked at them independently and not as failed amaretti, the result was a delicious success.
Needless to say, I indent to keep trying, and am confident I shall prevail.
Chocolate Dipped Almond Macaroons
Yield: 20 cookies
Total Time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almonds
1 cup superfine or powdered sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 oz. semisweet chocolate or chocolate candy coating (optional)Directions:
In a food processor, grind the almonds together with the sugar to a fine powder. Add the almond extract.
Slowly add the egg whites, one at a time, until the dough comes together.
Drop by teaspoon fulls onto a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Let sit at room temperature for about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Bake the cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden in color. Transfer to racks and cool completely.
For chocolate coating, gently melt chocolate in a double boiler set over a pot of gently simmering water. Carefully dip half of each cookie into chocolate, and set on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until set.
Adapted from ItalianFoodForever.com
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Don’t Miss a Meal!
Well we can’t wait for your successful recreation, but in the meantime these things look fairly fabulous themselves. All our favorite flavors together in one gorgeous little chocolate dipped cookie!
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I love when “failures” turn into successes! They look great, and I LOVE the plate they’re on! So beautiful.
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I do this all the time and my friends get so mad at me. I am trying to create something specific that I ate somewhere and can’t appreciate the yummy creations in the process. I am still trying to re-create a burnt caramel ice cream I had in San Francisco.
Your cookies look beautiful, I wish you luck in perfecting them to the ones you found in Italy.
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The cookies are beautiful!
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Keep experimenting! At least your experiments look that lovely!
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Ah these look so cute and delicious! I would love a bowl full on my coffee table for whenever I feel like a little nibble…
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Your cookies look fantastic. Good luck trying to master that perfect texture, taste and look of the ones you have in Italy. I am sure you will get it right.
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Excellent cookies. They look delicious! Keep trying to find the perfect ones :)
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Is it possible to substitute the almonds for normal flour (or anything else without nuts in it)?
My younger brother is allergic to nuts and I want to bake these for him!
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Unfortunately macaroons are traditionally nut-based and contain no flour… I’d say you could substitute another finely ground nut like hazelnut or pistachio, but if he’s allergic to all nuts, you’re probably better off using another recipe altogether (though you can always dip it in chocolate!)
This is so interesting to me, because my mom makes amaretti every year for Christmas and this was the first year ever (in decades!) that they didn’t turn out right. We couldn’t figure out what went wrong. I wonder what the deal is for both of us. Was it a bad almond year? lol…but seriously, was it?
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These look amazing. I have achieved a cloud-like texture with cookies (slightly crispy but they shatter into a million pieces in the mouth, light airy interior) using baker’s ammonia (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/bakers-ammonia-ammonium-carbonate-27-oz). Maybe that could help with your search? In the meantime, I will certainly be making these.
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Yum, I love chewy cookies the best!
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Nothing is ever a failure – simply a new invention! x
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I love anything and everything almond-flavored! These looks delicious and far from failure.
My parents are heading to Italy in a few months…I’m sending them on a mission to find Amaretti Morbidi!
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These look amazingly delicious. Thank you for posting…my stomach is growling now!
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These are beautiful! Love the pretty blue plate too! Aloha :)
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These sounds amazing right now!! Wow!!!! Can’t wait to try!
http://www.mrscapretta.com
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Mmmmmm, those look exquisite!
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Beautiful cookies. Bet they taste just as good.
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How was Kenny’s Cheese? Are you going to blog about it? What a nice day for drive and trip! Do tell, I can’t wait to see the blog about it!
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These look Amaaazing!! I mean it. I love almonds, and I especially love almonds + chocolate. This is definitely going to my TO Bake list. Thanks!!
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Yummy! Thanks for the recipe. The kids would definitely love it.
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What a wonderful field trip! I hope its only a matter of time before I meet food bloggers and have fun times like this in Houston! Thanks for sharing this idea.
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Ooh fun, that’s a good idea for things I could do with the macarons I make that don’t come out “ideal.” I bet these tasted delightful!
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