TRADITIONAL SICILIAN ALMOND COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups + 2 tbsp (200 gr) almond flour
• 1 cup + 10 tbsp (200 gr) powdered sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 orange
• 1/2 lemon
• 10 Maraschino cherries
• 3 drops pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. PREPARE THE ALMOND PASTE
   First of all, sift the powdered sugar, then mix the sugar with the almond flour in a large bowl. After that, add the grated zests of half lemon and half orange into the bowl, 3 drops of vanilla extract. Finally, mix all the ingredients with the whites of 3 large eggs lightly beaten.
2. EGG WHITE
   
   Work the dough until it is compact and homogeneous, then pour it into a pastry bag provided with a large decorating tip. Place the pastry bag into the refrigerator 20 minutes.
3. MAKING THE ALMOND COOKIES
   Line a drip pan with parchment paper. With the pastry bag, form cookies about 2 inches wide right on the parchment paper, add half Maraschino Cherry on the top of each cookie then put the drip pan in the fridge for at least 8 hours (it’s easy to prepare the almond cookies the night before for the following day!). The rest in the fridge is critical because the cookies don’t sag while cooking.
4. ALMOND COOKIES INTO THE OVEN!
   When the almond cookies are ready to be cooked, set the oven to 350° F and bake the cookies by taking them directly from the fridge. Bake the cookies 10-15 minutes, turning the dripping pan halfway through cooking, until they are golden brown. Finally, operate the broil a few minutes, until the cookies are golden! The almond cookies should be crispy outside and soft inside.
   Serve the almond cookies with a good tea, coffee or a glass of Italian Marsala wine.

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