The Classic Italian
Amaretto Cookie

An amaretto cookie is the most classical of all the cookies found around the Island.

Soft, moist with a slight bitter taste ideal at the end of the meal served with espresso coffee or a Sardinian sweet wine.

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This name Amaretto stems from the word Amaro which means bitter.

The unique bitter flavor that characterizes this cookie is obtained by using bitter almonds.

The average amount of bitter almonds used in this recipe are about 100gr for every 1kg of sweet almonds.

This basically depends on the taste one wishes to achieve, many areas  around the Island do prefer a stronger taste of the bitter and using up to 150gr.

In my opinion this is a little too much, but tastes are tastes!

Almonds are grown in abundance here,  and one of the best almonds to use to make Amaretti cookies is a type grown in Sardinia called ‘Grappolina’.

They contain a high quantity of natural oil that is perfect to make a soft and moist Amaretto.

It is not difficult to go around the Island and not find a Pasticceria that has some amaretti in their counter.

What you will only notice that in the areas of the North and South, they tend to decorate the  amaretto with a whole almond placed in the center of the cookie.

Whereas in the area where I live we just leave them without any decorations.

The amaretto cookie is a favorite among the locals and Italians, if you come to Sardinia and would like to take home with you a flavor of this Island then amaretti is a perfect choice.

The ones in the image below are in fact the classic amaretto although I do know that Lazzaroni does make a soft amaretto too, unfortunately I didn’t find them on Amazon, you will be able to notice the difference as the soft version is confectioned in a white box.

Another household name in Italy for amaretti is Balacco, these too are a cookie with the crisp, ideal for on quick dunk in a cup of espresso or even for garnishing Italian style desserts.

Sassallese is a well know confectioner from Ligure (North Italy) and their soft amaretti cookies are simply delicious.

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