Amaretti Cookies
This recipe was created by Vegan Chef Day.
Prep time - 20 minutes
Cook time - 45 minutes
Difficulty - Medium
Serves / makes - 20 amaretti
Ingredients
85g oats or ground almond
60g gram flour
3T water
3T amaretto (or 3T water plus almond essence)
85g powdered / icing sugar
40g aquafaba
1/8t cream of tartar or arrowroot
Equipment
High speed blender (if using oats)
Small bowl
Hand whisk
Fine sieve
Large bowl
Electric whisk
Baking tray
Baking paper or silicone mould with multiple small spherical holes
Method
Heat your oven to 150c/300f/GM2.
Grind the oats in a high speed blender until they are a fine powder.
Mix the gram flour with the water, mixing with a whisk until you get a smooth consistency. Add the amaretto (or water plus almond essence), mix and then add the ground oats, mix once more.
If the powdered sugar has clumped together put it through a fine sieve. Put the aquafaba and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Whisk, using an electric whisk, on the lowest setting until the aquafaba has increased in size and there are many small bubbles. Increase the setting, 1 notch at a time, whisking the aquafaba until it is at the stiff peak stage. The stiff peak stage is when the fluff is sufficiently aerated that, when you remove the whisk, a peak forms and stays pert. If your aquafaba is quite heavy you will need to stay on the lowest setting for a longer time to create more small bubbles and make the aquafaba increase in mass. *
Add the powdered sugar, 1 spoonful at a time. Whisk, on a low setting, after each addition until it is completely incorporated.
Add the gram flour / oat mixture to the bowl. Fold this into the fluff but do so gently. You need to keep as much air in the batter as possible.
Spoon into the mould**, bake for 20-30 minutes until cooked through. Take the amaretti out of the oven, allow to rest for 30 minutes, turn out of the mould, then re-bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
*Some aquafaba doesn’t fluff up quickly, so it seems heavy. Some people simmer the aquafaba to reduce it but this isn’t necessary if you add cream of tartar. The aquafaba will need to be whisked on the lowest setting for a longer time. This is to create lots of smaller bubbles which will create structure and therefore aerate the heavy aquafaba.
**You can choose not to use a mould which will result in you creating amaretti thins, as the batter will spread out (see picture). But these are just as delicious as the spherical amaretti. If you make thins you do not have to bake them for a second time.