xmas 2023 - pistachio, almond and white chocolate amaretti

xmas 2023 - pistachio, almond and white chocolate amaretti

• 12 Dec 2023

I love amaretti and I love pistachios so I wondered if you could make the former using the latter and found the answer was a resounding 'yes'. I decided to use my favourite amaretti recipe as the starting point and went from there.

Pistachios are very expensive so I used a combination of both almond and pistachio meal. As pistachios and white chocolate have a natural affinity, I dipped the cooled amaretti in some white chocolate rather than dark chocolate. It makes the finished cookie a little sweeter than usual so you could always skip this step or of course, use dark chocolate instead.

Here’s the recipe for you which makes 20 biscuits. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Pistachio, almond and white chocolate amaretti
Ingredients

100g ground almonds
100g finely ground pistachios 
110g caster sugar 
Grated zest of one lemon 
Pinch of salt 
60g egg whites (from 2 large eggs)
2 tsp honey 
1 tsp vanilla
Plenty of icing sugar for rolling

To decorate
100g white chocolate, melted
2 tbs slivered pistachios

Method
Heat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set to one side. 

Place the ground almonds on a small oven tray. Toast the almond meal in the oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden. You’ll need to stir the mixture a few times to make sure it toasts evenly. Set aside to cool.

Mix the cooled ground almonds, pistachio meal, sugar, lemon rind and salt in a large bowl with your fingertips. 
  
Whisk the egg whites until they reach a soft meringue consistency. Add the honey and vanilla whisk until firm. Gently fold into the nut mixture until it forms a soft paste. 

Place the icing sugar into a small bowl. Using a spoon, scoop out about a tablespoon of the mixture, then form the mixture into a cylindrical shape before rolling in the icing sugar. You should be able to make at least 20 from the mixture. 

Arrange the amaretti on the baking paper lined trays leaving room for expansion, and leave at room temperature for half an hour before baking. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 180°C, conventional until they have coloured  slightly but remain relatively pale and chewy in the centre. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

When cool, dip one half of each biscuit in melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off, and place on a baking paper-lined baking tray. Sprinkle slivered pistachios over chocolate. Repeat with remaining biscuits, then chill for 15 minutes to firm up before serving. Leave to cool before storing in a sealed jar. 

They look so festive, don't they? 

See you all again tomorrow with another bake for Xmas Week 2023. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian