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, these delicious 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 these 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)
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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
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, and lemon zest.
- Add the beaten eggs. Mix until combined and dough forms.
- Put ½ cup of confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes for soft, marzipan-like cookies or 14-15 minutes for slightly crunchy-chewy cookies.
- Remove from the oven and move the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month.
Notes
Baking tools I used and recommended in this post:
della says
I would love to make these for my hubby but he can’t have eggs. Do you think I could use flax egg instead?
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Della. I don’t know if flax eggs will work in this recipe, because I’ve never tried. The eggs are the rising agents in these cookies and I don’t know if the flax eggs will do that (they may mostly be for binding and moisture). I suggest that you google eggless almond cookies. There are a bunch of yummy looking recipes with good reviews. Good luck!
Audry Dahjor says
So I’m allergic to almonds. Can I use regular one to one gluten free flour for this recipe?
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Audry. No, these would not be a good cookie for you. The whole taste of this cookie is almonds. It would not work with gluten free flour. Perhaps you would like these instead : https://themondaybox.com/flourless-chocolate-crinkle-cookies/
Margit Stratton says
I just made these cookies for the first time. I always measure the ingredients. The dough was so sticky I could hardly get it off my fingers. Is that normal? Thanks
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Margit. I’m sorry this recipe gave you trouble.The dough for these cookies should not be that sticky. I make these cookies frequently and just roll the dough in my hands before coating in confectioner’s sugar. Are you in the US? I ask because sometimes ingredients are slightly different in other countries (grind of almond flour, starch is often added to powdered sugar in the US and not other countries, egg sizes vary). I would try adding a tablespoon more of the almond flour and powdered sugar and see if that firms your dough a bit. For future reference, I always use either Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour or Trader Joe’s fine ground almond flour. I hope this helps and your cookies end up tasting delicious.
Margit says
Thanks for getting back to me!
I am in the U.S.A.
I’m going to make another batch tomorrow. I’ll let you know how they come out.
The cookies are delicious 😋
Wendy Sondov says
Awesome, Margit! Thanks for letting me know! I would really appreciate it if you would leave a 5 star rating so that other readers will know that this is a recipe they should try! Happy baking and stay safe!
Margit says
I made another batch today and they came out perfect!
Stay safe! And thank you so much for a wonderful recipe!
Wendy Sondov says
You are so welcome! Enjoy!