If you’ve flipped through the latest issue of Joy the Baker Magazine, you might have noticed that I went on an Italian Christmas cookie bender. I just think there’s so much possibility in an Italian pink bakery box tied with baker’s twine and I wanted to create those possibilities for you. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite cookie from that printed cookie section but the Red Velvet Ricciarelli Cookies are the almond flour cookies towards the top of the list.
Ricciarelli are traditional Italian biscuits in the macaron family thanks to the almond flour. They also happen to be naturally gluten-free and pleasingly chewy. In the magazine I added cocoa powder and red food coloring but today I’ve gone with gingerbread spice and a glug of molasses. A holiday twist on a holiday classic!
We’re baking! Let’s go!
Here’s what you’ll need for these Gingerbread Ricciarelli (Italian Almond Flour Cookies):
• almond flour (you can use either blanched or unblanched almond flour)
• egg whites beaten to stiff peaks with a splash of lemon juice
• gingerbread spices: a teaspoon of ground ginger, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg, allspice, and a pinch of cloves.
• molasses
• vanilla extract
• baking powder and kosher salt
• powdered sugar for inside the cookies and to coat the cookies.
Start by whipped eggs whites and a small squeeze of lemon in a clean bowl until the eggs hold stiff peaks (or hold the lines of the beaters). I know we usually start with butter but that’s not the case with these cookies!
In a separate bowl, sift together almond flour, powdered sugar, and spices. Listen… I’m super lazy and I’ll avoid sifting dry ingredients at all costs but DON’T SKIP THIS SIFT! It’s important to make sure that there are no stubborn lumps in the powdered sugar especially.
Once sifted, add the egg whites to the dry ingredients two or three batches at a time. Try to maintain as much of that egg white fluff as possible. You’ll end up with a fairly thick, sticky dough. Stir in the molasses and vanilla extract.
Shape the cookies into little ovals or rounds and cover completely in powdered sugar.
Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and leave the cookies uncovered at room temperature for about an hour before placing in the oven. This very important step will allow the cookies to form a crust. Just before baking, give the edges of the cookie a little pinch to help encourage the crackle as the cookie bakes.
Bake until puffed and crackled and just browned at the edges. Allow the cookies to cool to room temperature before storing them in some sort of sealing container at room temperature.
Here’s the wonder of the cookies! They’re just as good, if not EVEN BETTER, in the few days after baking. The flavor will set and the almond flour cookies will become a perfectly chewy texture. I think they thrive for up to a week – perfect for the holiday season when we need our cookies to go the mile.
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Gingerbread Ricciarelli (Chewy Italian Almond Flour Cookies)
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: about 20 cookies 1x
- Category: dessert, holiday
Description
A chewy, holiday spiced cookie that is gluten free and gets better with time!
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- A dash lemon juice (about ¼ teaspoon)
- 2 1/4 cups (252 grams) almond flour
- 1 3/4 cups (218 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- Pinch of cloves
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar for coating cookies
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites and lemon juice until stiff, foamy peaks form.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, sift in almond flour, 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, spices, and baking powder into a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites in two or three batches. Try to keep some of the lightness from the egg whites though the batter will be a sticky dough. Add molasses and vanilla extract, and fold in until combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using clean hands, roll dough into balls about 1″ in diameter. Roll in powdered sugar until well coated. Shape into an oval, then arrange on a baking sheet with 2 inches of space between them for spreading. Flatten just slightly.
- Leave at room temperature for about an hour or until the cookies have dried out and formed a dry shell. Pre-crack the shell by squeezing the cookies slightly from opposite corners.
- While cookies are drying, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 300 degrees F. When the cookies are ready, bake for 14-16 minutes. Until puffed and cracked and dry across the top. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before storing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Photos with my friend Jon Melendez.
Rebecca M
We made these cookies for Christmas and out of all the cookies we made, these were the biggest hit. Such a bonus that they’re gluten free too. Will definitely be putting these into the regular rotation of holiday recipes going forward.
★★★★★
Lee
I made these for my gluten-free son, but they have been a huge hit with all who have tasted them. Baking GF often produces baked goods that only those who have to be GF will eat, so to find a recipe this great is a treasure. Thank you, Joy!!!!
★★★★★
Sue
I am told they are really fantastic. Made the recipe as written to cover having cookies for a celiac friend and dairy allergic relative for the holidays. Will keep this one in my recipe books for future use
★★★★★
Kelly
I discovered that my brand of almond flour would not fit through my fine-mesh sieve, so I sifted the powdered sugar separately and whisked the bejesus out of everything before and after. It worked perfectly! My cookie-tester, who is nineteen, loved the texture and grabbed a second before departing.
★★★★★
Sandra Eichhorn
This is some thing I would Like to happen. When a recipe has to use a lot of egg whites that person would give you a recipe that you can use with the yolks. That way there’s no waste.
Kristin
I always make ice cream from Joy’s Homemade Decadence cookbook, so I have the opposite problem – always using yolks for custard and having to find a use for the whites! So these cookies were perfect :)
samantha campanini
Ricciarelli are such an holiday tradition over here and I love them!
J
I just made these for friends and the cookies were a big hit. Recipe as written except for the following. Substituted lemon juice with cream of tartar. Used 3 egg whites instead of 2 ( my eggs weren’t that large). Didn’t have allspice so used pumpkin pie spice. Used squeezable ginger instead on powdered. And maple syrup instead of molasses. Also was short on time do the cookies did not sit a full hour. I still cracked them per instructions. Cookies were delicious and I will definitely again. Thanks
★★★★★
Susan
Hello! I married a man in 2008 named Ronnie Ricciarelli he passed in 2011 and afterwards learned there was a cookie from a Burt Wolf cookbook, I was thrilled! My SIL says she makes them each Christmas. I like molasses cookies so these will be my choice to try! Thank you, Buon Natale
margaret italiano
How do you if the have cracked with powered sugar on it?
Anyway I have made them but they don’t brown on edges and I did do the last method (fold on molasses and vanilla) I just didn’t read that part, oops! Will see if they come out ok, they look the same!? I have pix but where do I load them?
margaret italiano
Sorry about my typing, my grammar came out terrible! I’m sure you can all work out what I’m saying???
Sabrina
yum, haven’t delved into the Italian cookies in my baking, but definitely can connect with those pink boxes, wrapped with twine that have contained cookies like this, so really like the challenge of actually making these from your recipe, so thank you!
★★★★★
Marion Riley
Oh so yum!
Susan Schenauer
Thank you for this gorgeous addition to the Christmas table!
★★★★★
Alene
Oh my goodness! Gluten free! Thank you for that. And have a merry Christmas!
Amanda S Quintana
Has anyone tried this with keto sweeteners like swerve powdered?
Amanda Gibson
I was thinking the same thing but what would you soon the molasses with?
Suzanne Wynn
Hi! I was thinking about using the Lakanto brown sugar and taking the molasses down to 1 tsp. That’s only like 5 carbs, total and I think it adds a lot of flavor. Good luck ladies! I may try these too. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Maggie
Even with blackstrap molasses, cronometer calculates these as 2.6 net carbs per cookie using erythritol instead of sugar.
Calories 81.7 kcal
Total Fat 6.4 g 10 %
Saturated Fat 0.5 g
Total Carbohydrate 47.7 g
– 43,63 g sugar alcohol – 1.5 g Dietary Fiber = 2.56 net carbs
I’m going to try them!!
Marlene
Licked the bowl clean of dough! Made half rolled in powdered sugar, and half without, and both were delicious. Didn’t have vanilla on hand so used a lil bourbon. ;)
★★★★★
Erin
I made these exactly as the recipe said. They ended up pretty good but they did not cook at 300 for 14-16 minutes they came out raw. Maybe it was my over but I had to put them back in for 10 minutes at 325.
★★★★
Mark Leone
I blitzed Lakanto Monkfruit Granulated sweetener in the food processor to make powdered. (I find the Swerve powdered has a pretty powerful aftertaste). The cookies came out beautifully.
I kept the molasses as is. It is such a small component compared to the powdered sugar…
★★★★
Noreen
Morning Joy! These look and sound delicious. I’m trying to figure out what you mean by pinching the ends. Could you explain further please? Thanks much.
joythebaker
I mean that you want to squeeze the shaped and dried cookie on opposite ends just slightly so you create light cracks across the top and sides of the cookie. Hope that helps!
Noreen
Joy, thanks for clarifying! I made these right away and they are so good! I’ve made almond cookies before using marzipan and they were way too sweet. They came out beautiful and the texture was amazing. The orange zest is a must. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I am making more tomorrow. Have a beautiful Christmas. Your name fits you perfectly!
★★★★★
Marianne
Noreen, google “almond cloud cookies”…some of the best gluten free almond cookies with homemade almond paste. Not too sweet. They are my most favorite cookie…though I have a double batch of these cookies waiting to go in the oven so we’ll see!!
Lisa Li
Orange Zest? Don’t see it in recipe AND it sounds great!
Susan Ratigan
These cookies look wonderful but I can not have molasses. What could I substitute?
joythebaker
You could skip it entirely and still have delicious cookies!
Candace
How about date syrup/silan/date nectar? Delicious and healthy.
Judee
Gingerbread cookies seem especially welcome for the holidays. They look wonderful and I can only imagine how good they taste. Merry Christmas .
★★★★★
Lucy
Hello,
Can these be made vegan?
Thanks
joythebaker
You can try subbing aquafabba for the egg whites!