Chocolate Amaretti Cookies

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole almond (blanched)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• slivered almonds, to decorate (optional)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f place almonds on a sml baking sheet & bake 10-12 minutes, turning occ till golden brown. allow almonds to cool to room temperature reduce oven temp to 325°f.
• 2 line a lrg baking sheet w/baking parchment. in a food processor, process the toasted almonds w/half the sugar till the almonds are finely ground but not oily.
• 3 transfer the ground almonds to a bowl & stir in cocoa powder & confectioner's sugar. set aside.
• 4 in a med mixing bowl, beat egg whites & cream of tartar w/a hand-held mixer till stiff peaks form.
• 5 sprinkle in the remaining sugar 1 tbsp at a time, beating well after ea addition & cont beating till the whites are glossy & stiff. beat in the almond extract.
• 6 add the almond sugar mixture & gently fold into the beaten egg whites till just blended.
• 7 spoon the mixture into a lrg piping bag filled w/a plain 1/2 in nozzle. pipe 1 1/2 in rounds about 1 in apart on the prepared baking sheet. press a slivered almond into the center of ea cookie.
• 8 bake cookies for 12-15 minutes or till they are crisp. cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.
• 9 w/a metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. when cool, store in an airtight jar or cookie tin.