20 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 9

Almond Macaroon Cookie Recipe

The Italian Almond Macaroon cookie, not to be confused with the French Macaron, has a long history dating back to the Arab Empire. The original Almond Macaroon recipe was a 2 ingredient almond cookie made of groundnut flour and honey. The Sicilians called it sweet Maccheroni, meaning ground up anything, most foods evolve over the course of time and change, as did the Italian Almond Macaroon cookie, but not by much. This 2 ingredient cookie came to be a 3 ingredient almond cookie by adding egg whites as a leavening agent to the recipe.

This Almond Macaroon recipe is made up of almond paste, powdered sugar, and egg whites. By far, this is the simplest of the Italian Almond paste cookies to make and a fun one to get the kids involved with.

Ingredients

½ pound almond paste broken into small pieces or grated

1 ¼ cup of powdered sugar

2 egg whites

 Crushed almond halves for decoration

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using a heavy-duty stand mixer, or in a large bowl to mix by hand, cream the almond paste, and egg whites until well blended.

3. Add the powdered sugar and mix well.

4. Grease your hands, a cookie scoop does not work well. The kids will love this sticky mess. Get them involved!

5. Pinch about a 1 ½ tsp size of cookie dough and roll it in a log shape in the crushed almond halves.

6. Place the cookie onto a greased, 11x17 cookie/jelly roll pan, in either the spritz or shell shape, I always do both.

7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or just until set and the edges are slightly brown.

8. Slightly loosen the cookie log using a small thin spatula, reshaping it into a log if necessary, and let them cool completely.

9. That’s it! Enjoy!