Ricciarelli: Chewy Italian Almond Cookies
Ricciarelli are dense, chewy Italian almond cookies originating in Siena. They are a distant, and much less fussy, Italian cousin to the French macaron — perfect with tea or coffee!
It’s about time I shared a recipe with you that was inspired from our trip to Italy last fall!
We had so much good food while we were there that I wish I could relive or recreate: Bistecca alla Fiorentina, or Florentine steak. Tiramisu. Homemade cavatelli pasta with arrabiata sauce from our cooking class in Rome. Allllllll those interesting flavors of gelato. Of course, pizza. More than anything, I wish I could import the amazing cured meats we had or have just one more sandwich from Lo SchiacciaVino.
While we were in Florence, we had the rare treat of meeting up with my European blogger friend Emily of Inside the Rustic Kitchen (an amazing go-to recipe blog for all things Italian!).
We both happened to bring each other identical gifts – cookies local to the cities we lived in. I brought her benne wafers (small, crunchy sesame cookies) from Charleston, and she brought me a box of ricciarelli – chewy almond cookies native to Siena, Italy.
I had never had them before but my husband and I were in love with them from the first bite! It was really difficult trying to save any of the cookies for more than a couple days!
What are ricciarelli?
Ricciarelli are cookies from Siena, Italy, that have a kick-you-in-the-face almond flavor, a lovely dense chewiness, and a beautiful cracked surface. One of these cookies is just perfect alongside a hot cup of Earl Grey or, if you want to live in true Italian style, a cappuccino.
Think of ricciarelli cookies as a cousin to macarons. Technically, I believe, it is actually a type of macaroon – with two o’s – but they made me think of macarons – with one o – as I was making them.
The recipes and techniques of ricciarelli and macarons are actually very similar: In both types of cookie, you fold almond flour and sugar into whipped egg whites, and you leave the shaped cookies on the baking sheet for a while to dry out before baking in order to form a little crust on the outside.
But — and this is good news — ricciarelli dough is much less fussy to make than macaron batter.
In ricciarelli, the ratio of almond flour to egg whites is much higher than in macarons, so you get a dense, chewy almond cookie rather than a light, airy one. Because there’s so much almond flour to fold in, it’s impossible to keep much of that fluffy meringue texture. Instead of lava-like macaron batter, you end up with a sticky dough you can roll into balls with your hands.
However, that hint of a crispy meringue-like exterior is still there before you hit the chewy inside. Letting the cookies rest long enough on the counter before baking is key to getting this texture!
Getting perfectly crackled ricciarelli cookies
That dried-out shell on the cookie dough is also vital to getting the beautifully craggy, crackled effect on the outside as well. With ricciarelli, you roll each ball of dough in powdered sugar before baking. When it cooks, the dough on the inside expands and breaks through the dried exterior, allowing golden cracks to show through the white outside.
However, sometimes the cookies need a little help in getting the crackled effect. The first time I made these, the dough was practically drying out by the time I got them on the cookie sheet and cracked very easily on their own. The second time I made them, even though I left them on the counter for two hours instead of one, the cookies needed some assistance to get the cracked texture.
You can see the difference here – the cookies on the right didn’t have any help, while the ones on the left were pre-cracked before baking.
I lightly squeezed each cookie from opposite corners until I was satisfied with the cracks I could see forming in the tops of the unbaked cookies. Then, instead of relying on the expanding dough to create the cracks, they just have to enhance the ones you already made.
I’ve demonstrated below on the baked cookies how I squeezed the unbaked dough balls to crackle the shells. Feel free to lightly press down on the tops or whatever you need to do to get those cracks started!
It’s basically like when you slice the top of your bread dough before baking. If you don’t, the dough will still expand and crack, but it might not be where you want it to. (In the case of the cookies, I found without pre-cracking the dough, it will mostly crack on the bottoms of the cookies rather than the tops, which isn’t nearly as pretty)
Getting the ideal flavor and texture
I did several rounds of recipe testing to get these just right for you! The first batch was delicious but tasted too much of orange and was too sweet. (The orangey flavor was lovely, just not as close to the original super-almondy ones we had.)
The second batch was much closer to the original cookies we had, but lost that hint of a meringue-like shell. Granted, I don’t remember that being present in the original cookies we had in Italy, but was a really nice attribute of the first batch of cookies I made!
I wasn’t sure why less sugar and orange zest would affect the texture, but I theorized that it was related to the humidity on the day I made the second batch.
What else could I do but test the same recipe with a third batch? This time I had our new dehumidifier on. Voila! Nice slightly crispy thin meringue-like shell, with the dense, moist, chewy interior. Perfecto!
Granted, they were still AMAZING in the second batch – just know that the humidity of your climate may affect the exact texture of your cookies. You can always leave them out longer before baking to help them out if you are in an especially humid environment!
Anyway, the best thing you can do to make sure these cookies come out well is to TRY THEM. They’re very easy to make — and even with subtle variations on exactly how the surface or flavor of each batch turned out, the consensus for each and every cookie was that they were awesome.
Hands down: holy amazingness. These have become one of my favorite cookies now!
Ricciarelli: Chewy Italian Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups almond flour
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar plus ½ cup for coating cookies
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon almond extract (this is not a typo)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest about half a large orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, powdered sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Add egg whites and lemon juice to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat at medium low speed until frothy (about a minute), then at medium high until stiff peaks form. Add almond extract, vanilla extract, and orange zest, and fold in until well combined.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, sift almond flour mixture into the beaten egg white mixture. Add it in in about 2-3 batches, folding in each batch. Try to keep some air in the egg whites, but at this point it will form a pretty sticky dough rather than a fluffy meringue (see step by step photos in blog post or how-to video for texture)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using clean hands, roll dough into balls about 1" to 1.5" in diameter (or 23-25g each), then roll in powdered sugar until well coated. Shape into an oval, then arrange on baking sheet with some space between them for spreading.
- Leave at room temperature for about half an hour to an hour, or until the tops have dried to the touch and formed almost a little shell. (This may take longer in humid areas.) Flatten the cookies slightly and lightly squeeze or stretch opposite corners, trying to form little cracks in the top of the dried shell to pre-crack it before baking. (Not doing this won't affect the taste, but pre-cracking them makes them much prettier if you want that beautiful white-gold contrast!)
- While cookies are drying, preheat oven to 300℉ (150℃). When the cookies are ready, bake for about 20 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container. These are even better the next day and are great with coffee or tea!
300 degrees is F or C?
300 degrees Fahrenheit. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Caroline. Those cracks really look beautiful, remind me of my fave chocolate crinkle cookies. Should I roll in the powdered sugar before I let them sit on the counter, or the other way around? I live in a very humid country. I can even get 80 – 90++% humidity during certain season and we don’t have demuhidifier here. Do you have any other suggestion what to do to make them dry? Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Hi Sylvia, I roll in powdered sugar before they dry – it needs that gooey dough texture for the powdered sugar to stick to it. We are also extremely humid here – I’d say either just waiting longer for them to dry out, or possibly putting them in the oven at a very low temp with the door cracked open for a little while until they are a little harder to the touch. Then crack them, raise the oven temp, and bake as normal. Ovens vent out steam so they’re good at drying things out. Let me know how it goes!
Made these today with ground pecans instead of almonds and orange peel off my own oranges, Turned out fantastic. Drying time is crucial. Great recipe.
That sounds like an excellent variation on these cookies! I agree, drying time really gives it the appropriate texture!
Made these today on a whim with my mom, and they turned out excellent! thank you!!!
So glad you loved these! Thanks for leaving a rating!
How much is a dash of lemon juice? Seems like that could really vary.
Thanks.
Patty
Somewhere in the ballpark of a half teaspoon to a teaspoon is probably fine, it won’t make that much of a difference in flavor or consistency for this recipe! A little more or less than the above is fine too!
These are awesome. They are like little almondy marshmallows. I didn’t have any almond extract so I just used a little extra vanilla. Also didn’t have any oranges but did use an extra dash of lemon juice. They turned out really good.
They’re some of my favorites! If you like almond you should definitely try them again with the almond extract – they are so good with that strong punch of almond!
I was in siena in September and found this cookie. I used your great recipe to recreate them here. thanks so much.
It’s nice to be able to have a little tasty bite to remind me of my 2017 trip to Italy as well! I’m so glad you fondly remember your time in Siena with these cookies too!
can i use regular flour instead of almond?
Hi Ariana,
Using all-purpose flour instead of almond flour for these cookies would change the entire recipe and I can’t even guarantee they would come out. Think of them like coconut macaroons, except instead of coconut you’re using almond. So substituting all-purpose flour for the coconut in coconut macaroons may produce an edible cookie but they wouldn’t be coconut macaroons anymore! Hope this helps!
Hi,
can I know in grams how much flour do you need?
This has been a frequent request on this recipe and I plan to do some additional testing very soon to make sure the metric measurements I include are accurate! I’ll keep you posted on when weight measurements are added. Thank you so much!
Thank you!!! This recipe was AMAZING! We made a batch to share but had to remake them because we ate them all.
I know the feeling!!! Always worth saving a batch for yourself!
Question, what is ‘powdered sugar for coating cookies’? I rolled mine in icing sugar and it just got asorbed. I also mist have had mine too moist as they spread into one giant cookie! oops. Still tasted amazing tho.
It’s just additional powdered sugar, beyond what you mix into the dough (not a special kind of powdered sugar just for coating cookies). I’m not sure why the icing sugar got absorbed – I find that the first little bit absorbs and then the rest stays nice and white. Are you in a very humid environment? It’s frequently pretty humid here in Charleston and then I have to let them sit for extra time before baking so they dry out enough to crackle. Did you whip the egg whites into stiff peaks before folding in the other ingredients? I’m trying to think of why your dough might have been extra runny, since mine didn’t spread that much!
if you mistake baking powder for baking soda they spread. they look like hell and are chewier but still delicious
Yikes! I’m glad they were still good – one time I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder in a cornbread recipe and it was so awful I couldn’t eat it! Looked beautiful though, hah!
I made these a few days ago and they came out perfect!! Thank you for such a great recipe. My question is if I wanted to make a pistachio version of these would I replace all the almond flour for pistachios or do half and half??
Thank you
I think you could do either for the flour! I’d be tempted to do half-and-half since almond flour is more readily available and pistachios tend to be even pricier than almonds! The bulk of the flavor of the cookie comes from the extract, though, so I’d definitely swap the almond extract for pistachio extract. (affiliate link) I haven’t used pistachio extract before so I’m not sure how the potency compares. Please let me know how they turn out, it sounds like a delicious variation!
I’ve made this recipe a couple time now and love it! Most recently, I actually forgot baking soda but I just cooked them a little longer and they STILL turned out great. Also, I add a pinch of cardamom. I think it’s a great addition to the orange flavor.
I love cardamon with orange! If you like that flavor combo you might be interested to try these cardamom orange scones – they’re my favorite scones I’ve posted on my site! Thanks so much for your comment and review!
I just made these for an office holiday party and they were a big hit, and that’s against a pretty high standard because I bake a lot of fancy treats for my coworkers. I have been looking for a recipe hack for the almondine cookies at Pistacia Vera for a long time (I used to get their cookies shipped all the way from Ohio to New York City, but they tragically no longer ship out of state). And these are almost a perfect match! Fantastic recipe!
Yay!! I’m so glad you found a match for your beloved cookies! These are some of my favorites too.
These look beautiful and sound so delicious I can’t wait to try them.
I’m not good at guessing or eyeballing amounts, what amount would a dash of lemon juice be?
Sorry for the question, I’m an amateur baker that loves to bake.
Oh, maybe half a teaspoon or so? Hope you enjoy them!
Hoping this recipe comes close to duplicating the cookies I had in Sicily! Thought I’d pass along one hot tip: Try using Fiori Di Sicilia,
a vanilla & citrus liquid available on line from King Arthur.
(I’m not affiliated with the company!)
Hi Susan, hope these cookies were what you were looking for! Thanks for the tip, would you suggest using the Fiori Di Sicilia in lieu of vanilla extract and orange zest?
I ordered this extract and used it in place of the orange zest. It was wonderful! Very aromatic. Thank you for sharing this suggestion!
My only problem was overcooking. Fan oven anyone experience with fan oven settings?
Dear Caroline:
I was born and raised in Southern Italy, but am very familiar with ricciarelli, which are sold all over Italy! I never had the recipe until I saw yours, and your ‘tricks’ to make them crack the right way were precious. I made a batch, and they came out perfect the first time! To give them more of an almond punch, I also added a couple of drops of bitter almond oil…they were as good as I remembered them from Siena! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe, one to cherish!
I’m so glad these came out well for you and were just like you remembered! It’s nice to have a recipe that takes you back to a cherished place!
I want to make these for my Christmas cookies swap. Can I make them in advance and freeze or keep in the refrigerator a few days?
Hi Susan, I’m afraid I haven’t tried keeping them in the fridge or freezer but they seem to do okay in an airtight container at room temp for a few days! I’m sure the fridge would be fine too.
I love the crispy and chewy texture but I cant seem to get the middle fully cooked and I’m not sure why. I have even tried cooking them longer and they just become harder as it cools. Any idea why the middle remains looking uncooked?
The middles will be soft especially when they come out of the oven, and will stay chewy when they cool. A lot of times cookies look half-cooked immediately after taking out of the oven when they’re actually done! If they look fully done when they come out of the oven they will likely be too dry and hard like you described once they cool. Have you tried just cooking them for the 20 minutes and letting them cool? It’s also possible your oven is off – mine takes much longer to preheat than it thinks and is consistently 25 degrees cooler than the setting, so I always go by this $6 oven thermometer (affiliate link) https://amzn.to/35HnUa4. Those crispy meringue cookies cook at a low temp for a long time so I imagine your oven may also run cool. Hope this helps!
Did you try freezing? I also wanted to know.
I’ve got a bunch more recipe testing on my to-do list for this recipe to answer all these questions from commenters! I’ll keep y’all posted with updates!
I made these for a cookie exchange and froze them about a week in advance. They thawed out perfectly and were the hit of the cookie exchange. Amazing recipe and a welcome change from most Christmas cookies.
Thanks for the tip on freezing! I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
Is it possible to substitute another nut flour or sunflower flour? We’re gluten free and my partner can’t eat almonds but other nuts are ok.
You could probably substitute coconut or another nut flour but that almond extract is really a big part of the flavor of this recipe! Is there another nut extract you could use instead, or maybe orange extract?
Can you make these into thumbprint cookies? I would love to add some jam to them.
That sounds delicious, and like something I need to test! Please let me know if you tried this and how they came out! What kind of jam did you want to add? I bet it would be good with raspberry jam, like a Linzer cookie (traditionally almond + raspberry).
I’m Brazilian and I was delighted when I saw a person here who makes these cookies. I loved your recipe and I’m going to test it. is the oven temperature you mention in ºF?
Yes, it’s in Fahrenheit. Hope you like them!
Just made a double batch for a Siena trip reunion. Thank you for the recipe! It is time-consuming, but the reward worth the effort. We first
tasted these amazing cookies in July during a trip to Siena with the Mountain Voices. Can’t wait to see how mine measure up!
How exciting! I just made these again last week too. I hope they’re as good as you remember them from Siena!
I just made a batch of these cookies, and holy smoke, they have the same taste and texture as the ones we bought in Italy! Thank you so much for this recipe…it’s just not Christmas without these cookies. 😊
Thank you so much for sharing!! I’m so glad I could help add to the Christmas spirit for you!
These are one of my favorite Italian treats! We bought dozens and dozens of them the week we stayed in Siena. Can’t wait to try this!
Can you use plain flour for the almond cookies?
Jodi, this recipe really requires almond flour, which is finely ground almonds. Substituting all-purpose flour for the almond flour in these cookies would be like substituting all-purpose flour for the coconut in coconut macaroons: it probably wouldn’t work and it would completely change the type of cookie!
These cookies are gorgeous!! I may have to spend my afternoon making cookies!
You won’t regret it!! The only problem is they don’t make more in a batch!
I don’t bake cookies, but I wanted to see your post because I’ve never heard of these cookies! They really look beautiful, and tasty.
Thanks, Mimi! If you were to ever bake cookies, these are definitely worth it! Even if you’re not a fan of more common types like chocolate chip, these are unique!
Hi Caroline,
Hope it’s not too late to ask you a question about the recipe but I really want to try these this weekend and iI’m wondering if you could tell me the weight of the dry ingredients as by using cup measures is very relative… any possibility of sharing that?
Thank you so much for your time and this wonderful recipe you put together.
Bells
This has been a frequent request on this recipe and I plan to do some additional testing very soon to make sure the metric measurements I include are accurate! I’ll keep you posted on when weight measurements are added. Thank you so much!
Oh my goodness! The interior of those cookies looks TO DIE FOR! Yum!
It really is! So chewy, with a moist, dense crumb!
Is the temperature in Fahrenheit?
Yes, it is!
Wow, gorgeous.
Thank you!
Can you substitute regular flour for almond?
Hi Denise, I wouldn’t substitute regular flour for almond flour in this recipe. Think of these like coconut macaroons, except instead of coconut they’re almond. If you changed that to all-purpose flour it would change the flavor and character of the cookie, and I don’t even know how the baking instructions might change.
These look fab! Can’t wait to try them. Wondering if you could substitute the orange zest for lemon zest?
I think that would work too but I personally love the touch of orange with the almond flavor — just be aware using lemon zest will change the flavor!
I make these all the time with lemon zest. I wrap and chill the dough first, then roll into a log and cut into cookies, form each into an oval and roll in powdered sugar. Next time, I’ll try letting them air dry a bit before putting in the oven. mine have always gotten the cracks when they expand. Either way, these cookies always receive rave reviews!
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m glad you enjoy these!
This recipe was awesome! Love them!
Thanks so much!
I followed the recipe and the dough was really sticky I couldn’t do it into balls. What did I do wrong?
Unfortunately dry measurements by volume (in cups) are less precise than by weight (grams) so there’s always the possibility of using too little or too much when you’re measuring in cups. The dough will be pretty sticky even when done correctly (it pretty much coats my hands by the time I’m done with it), but if you need to add a little extra almond flour to make the dough workable that’s fine too!
Thanks for the reply. Yes I used the weights. Was amazing the different in qtys. They turned out amazing may just need to tweak the flour a little as you suggested
Hi Caroline,
Can u give us the recipe in weight or post a link? I’d hate to have these be less than they could be by measuring In cups. Thanks! Looking forward to making these
This has been a frequent request on this recipe and I plan to do some additional testing very soon to make sure the metric measurements I include are accurate! I’ll keep you posted on when weight measurements are added. Thank you so much!
I made them today but the dough was so sticky could not Shep then right now idid not backed them yet the are flat but I’ll back them afternoon anyway I will try again.
You can add a little extra almond flour if the dough is too sticky to handle. However, I do find I have to wash my hands in between every few dough balls because of dough sticking to my hands.
Love these cookies.. I used half amount sugar and they turned great.. not sure how they are supposed to taste like, but mine was to die for .. thank you
So glad you liked these! Thanks for the review!
I made these keto friendly using powered sugar substitute. They came out great!
Thanks for sharing!
Do you have a chocolate variation? Your recipe is delicious.
I don’t currently, but that sounds like something I might need to try in the future! Glad you like the recipe!
Will these cookies keep in an air tight container for a few days?
They will keep in an airtight container for a few days just fine! After that they will start drying out a bit but will still taste good.