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Soft Amaretti Biscuits

Submitted by adriana on Mon, 16/11/2009 - 01:25
Another Gluten-free cooking for kids recipe

Thank you to Claire for submitting this recipe.  These are luscious biscuits which just so happen to be dairy and gluten free.  But don't let the healthy image deter you, they are incredibly delicious and a very easy to make.

Yield

20

Preparation time

10 minutes preparation 15 minutes baking time

Ingredients

180g ground almonds (you can substitute dessicated coconut)
120g caster sugar
3 drops almond essence (optional)
Pinch of salt
60g dried cranberries, chopped
2 egg whites
2 tsp honey
icing sugar

Directions

Preheat oven 170 C

Mix the ground almonds, sugar and chopped dried cranberries.  In a clean bowl beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the honey until you get a soft meringue.  Gently fold in the dry ingredients and add the almond essence to form a soft paste.  Dust your hands with icing sugar and form about 20 small balls of dough.  Place these on a greased baking sheet.  Bake for about 15 minutes until crisp and golden on the outside.  Leave to cool completely on a wire rack and then place in an airtight tin.  The biscuits will have a crisp outer shell and a chewy soft centre.

 

Notes

The first time I made these I decided to forgo the icing sugar.  This resulted in moist chewy biscuits which were irresistable.  Then, just to make life more interesting, I decided to half dip the biscuits in melted dark chocolate.  A very interesting and tasty experiment!

Instead of cranberries you can substitute any dried fruit, for example chopped apricots, raisins, figs or prunes. I also sometimes add pistachios or flaked almonds.