Italian Almond Cookies the TSL-Way…

Tags

Amaretti Biscuit Recipe, Baking, Biscuit Recipe, Biscuits, Blogging, Christmas Baking, Coconut Sugar, Cookies, CutterLight, Dairy Free, David Lebovitz, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Baking, Paleo

LM’s Choc-drizzled Italian Almond Biscuits TSL-Style
(Image by TSL)

David Lebovitz is surely an icon in the world of food blogging. He’s a man with much style. And, if you’re a bit of a foodie and don’t already subscribe to his blog, I urge you to go and check it out… (here)

There’s a big difference between lucky and fortunate. Luck is a winning lottery ticket blowing in your window. Fortunate means that you’ve taken the initiative and done something. And because of it, there was a positive outcome. (David Lebovitz)

Last week, I bookmarked his Italian Almond Cookies post to try at a later date. With the silly season fast approaching, and in this dairy-free (LM), gluten-free (me) house we live in at Casa TSL, finding Christmas baking recipes that fit the bill can be a little challenging. These looked seriously yummy.

Then, in this wonderful global world of blogging we inhabit, yesterday my special northern-most blogging buddy, Barbra of CutterLight posted about her take on David’s recipe.

Italian Almond Biscuits TSL-Style
(Image by TSL)

So, we have David Lebovitz, who lives in France. Barbra who resides in Alaska – sometimes on land and sometimes at sea. And, now I am putting my spin on Italian Almond Cookies here in Australia. We should see how many countries we can add to the Italian Almond Cookies list…?

Here at Casa TSL, I made my cookies biscuits (biscuits: because I don’t come from America) with coconut sugar*. It’s more like brown sugar than white in consistency, so my biscuits were sun-tanned versions of the original, and probably a little more caramel-y in flavour.

And, of course, LM thinks everything tastes better with chocolate…

Nude Italian Almond Biscuits TSL-Style
(Image by TSL)

David Lebovitz Inspired Italian Almond Biscuits TSL-Style

Ingredients

for the dough

3 cups blanched almond meal
1 cup coconut sugar
3 large egg whites (fresh as possible and at room temperature)
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons jam (I used Cornersmith’s Crabapple Jelly)
a few drops of pure almond extract (a little goes a long way!)

 for finishing the biscuits

1 large egg white
About 2 cups slivered almonds
About 150 – 200 g dark chocolate (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

2. Mix the almond meal and coconut sugar together in a large bowl.

3. Using your electric mixer, in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they start to pile up into soft peaks.

4. Fold your beaten egg whites into the almond mixture. The egg whites will lose some volume. Then fold in your jam and almond extract. Mix the dough until it comes together into a smooth ball. I used my hands to ensure the jam was evenly distributed throughout the dough.

5. Using a tablespoon measure, roll each biscuit into a ball in your hands, then roll them ovals.

6. Whisk your remaining egg white in a small bowl to break it up. Pour the slivered almonds into another small bowl. Roll each biscuit in the egg white, followed by the slivered almonds. This part is a little fiddly and requires some gentle coaxing to get the almonds distributed all over your biscuits. After coating each of your biscuits with the almonds, put them on a baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.

7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets in the oven so your biscuits bake evenly. Let cool.

8. If having your biscuits ‘LM Style’, melt your chocolate (in a bowl placed over a pot of gently simmering water or in the microwave). Drizzle melted chocolate over your biscuits.

LM’s Choc-drizzled Italian Almond Biscuits TSL-Style
(Image by TSL)

*Coconut sugar has a lower GI rating of than sugar. This way I can kid myself into thinking these aren’t quite as bad for me!