Flourless Soft Almond Cookies (Pasticcini di Mandorle) can be soft like marzipan or baked a few minutes more for a slightly crunchy chew. Either way, these wondrous cookies are a real Italian treat! Made with only 4 ingredients, Flourless Soft Almond Cookies are naturally gluten free and ideal for Passover or Easter sweetness.
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When it comes to dunkable, dip-able, cookies with amazingly long shelf life, Italian cookies win the prize. Perhaps this is due to espresso being so much a part of the Italian culture and the obvious need for a cookie to go along side. Perhaps Italian bakers are just genius. From biscotti to taralli dolce di pasqua (Italian Easter Cookies) to these Pasticcini di Mandorle (Flourless Soft Almond Cookies), Italian cookies are what your cookie jar and care packages should be filled with.
Flourless Soft Almond Cookies may be the easiest cookie I have ever made. There are only four ingredients; almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, and eggs. There is no mixer required. Just combine the ingredients, roll in confectioners’ sugar, bake, and enjoy. The naturally gluten free, grain free ingredients, make Flourless Soft Almond Cookies a lovely Passover or Easter treat.
It’s not often that I look at a cookie and think that no sprinkles are needed, but Flourless Soft Almond Cookies are a beautiful exception. I love the way the powdered, white crust cracks and the yellow almond cookie shows through. They are definitely eye catching without any bling. Should you want to add a bit of spring color, turning Flourless Soft Almond Cookies into lovely pastel Easter cookies, I found an easy way to color the confectioners’ sugar. Color Kitchen sells little packets of all natural food coloring powder. I bought mine at Whole Foods. The packets come in red, yellow, and blue, which can be combined to create all the colors of the rainbow. Mixing the powder in a small plastic bag with the confectioners’ sugar, colors the sugar in soft pastel hues.
Disclaimer: There are rarely any Monday Box recipes that use nuts. I am extremely allergic to tree nuts and can’t even bake with them. Almonds are a partial exception for me. I can’t eat them, but it doesn’t bother me to bake with them. That said, in order to evaluate the flavor of Flourless Soft Almond Cookies, I had to rely on the reactions and comments of my taste testers. I can’t tell you first hand that these cookies live up to the rave reviews I read while researching. However, I can tell you that no one I gave them to stopped at one cookie. Two or three cookies into their “taste testing”, each person was still smiling, munching, and muttering some version of, “Mmmmm,” while reaching for another.
Flourless Soft Almond Cookies are a cookie for all occasions. They are simple enough for everyday enjoyment, yet so pretty you will want to share them at your Passover or Easter celebrations.
Flourless Soft Almond Cookies (Pasticcini di Mandorle)
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups almond flour
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar plus about ½ cup for coating
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- Optional for colored sugar coating:
- 3 packages of Color Kitchen powdered natural food coloring red, blue, yellow
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, and lemon zest.
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Add the beaten eggs. Mix until combined and dough forms.
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Put ½ cup of confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl.
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Optional: For colored confectioners’ sugar, divide evenly into three ziplock bags. Add ¼ teaspoon of powdered coloring and knead bag until the sugar is evenly colored. Add additional powder in ¼ teaspoon increments until desired color is achieved. (Combine primary colors to create additional shades. Red and blue were combined for the purple coloring.)
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Scoop dough into slightly rounded 1 tablespoon portions. Roll to coat in the confectioners’ sugar. Roll in palm, over the sugar bowl, to form a ball and to remove excess sugar.
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Place 2” apart on the prepared baking sheet. With a finger, make a small indentation in the middle of each cookie to promote even baking.
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Bake for 11-12 minutes for soft, marzipan-like cookies or 14-15 minutes for slightly crunchy-chewy cookies.
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Remove from the oven and move the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month.
Packing Tips
Wrap pairs of cookies, bottoms together, in plastic wrap. Stack the wrapped bundles in a freezer weight ziplock bag. To use a plastic storage container, layer cookies between sheets of wax paper. Add crumpled tissue paper between the cookie and the lid, if necessary, to prevent ANY movement while shipping.
Baking tools I used and recommended in this post:
These are beautiful cookies and being an almond flour lover, I already know I would be reaching for a second one too!
Thanks, Chris! It’s hard to believe that these puffy, chewy cookies have no flour! I love that they will work for everyone’s spring holidays!
This is such a fun post and I loved learning about coloring the sugar. I love almond cookies of all kinds, and the Italians do seem to have a lot of different ones. This would be perfect for Easter, and I just remembered I have some almond flour I need to pull out and use!
Mollie
These are beautiful! Pinned! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party.
What beautiful cookies! I would have never guessed they were so simple to make. Too bad you weren’t able to enjoy one, but by the looks and sounds of it you have a winner on your hands anyway!
I just love the colours of your cookies, Wendy, and they look so delicious! They are perfect for a spring afternoon tea. Featuring this post at the Hearth and Soul Link Party this week. Thank you so much for sharing it! Have a lovely week!
I just pinned your beautiful cookies! Have a great first week of spring and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with FULL PLATE THURSDAY!
Miz Helen
Thought these might have almond extract. Do you think they would wo rk with an artificial sweetener?
Hi Chris. There are only 4 ingredients in these cookies which doesn’t leave much wiggle room for changes. I haven’t tried making these with something like Swerve powdered sugar, but it might work with a change in texture. I think the Swerve cookies might not be as soft, but I am not sure. If you give it a try, please let me know. 🙂
Wendy, these are gorgeous. Whenever I want to make cookies and want something quick and delicious, I make some form of almond macaroons. These are very similar and I love how you dusted them with that gorgeous, naturally colored, confectioners’ sugar! So pretty and so tasty. I’d love some with my coffee (incidentally, my son and I recently polished off a small batch of biscotti : ).
Delish! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing with us at #bestoftheweekend
These cookies remind me of an almond cookie I had over 6 years ago in Capri. I still dream about them. They were called mandorlati. I got so excited when I read your post. VCan’t wait to try them. Love the pastel colours. Love the idea of natural food colourings. Wish they would make gel ones!