Vegan Orange Almond Cookies - Italian Ricciarelli

5 from 4 votes

Vegan Orange Almond Cookies - Italian Ricciarelli

Our Vegan Orange Almond Cookies are perfect as a dessert and as a mid-afternoon coffee break. Traditionally, these beautiful cookies are eaten in Italy during the cold days of winter. They very soft and moist when you bite into them, and bursting with orange and almond flavour. Our recipe follows the original Tuscan tradition of Ricciarelli, but without eggs, for a final product that has the same texture and flavour as the original.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time7 mins

Resting time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 22 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Plant-Based, Vegan

Servings: cookies

Calories: 86kcal

Author: Nico

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

145 g almond flour or very finely ground almonds
70 g sugar
50 g powdered sugar
7.5 g candied orange or orange zest
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients

25 g aquafaba this is simply the chickpea water from a can of chickpea
5 g almond extract optional
½ teaspoon vanilla aroma

You'll also need

2 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoon powdered sugar for the topping

Metric - USA

Instructions

If you use whole almonds, then start by toasting them in the oven at 170C/340F for 15 minutes (unless they are already toasted). Then let them cool down and blend them very finely in a food processor, until you get a very fine almond flour.
If you use almond flour, you can skip this step.
In a food processor, add the dry ingredients and blend together till they are well mixed. Then transfer to a large bowl.
In a bowl, add the aquafaba - chickpea water - making sure you filter our all chickpea pieces.
With an electric whisk, beat up the aquafaba just like if it were egg whites, until you get a very firm foam.
Scoop the foam into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula gently.
Add the almond aroma and the vanilla aroma and keep incorporating with a spatula till you get a paste/dough.
Transfer the paste/dough onto a worktop, lightly dusted with corn starch.
With your hands, bring the paste together without kneading it, then form a roll with a diameter of 4cm / 1½ inches. With a knife or pastry scraper, cut the roll into small discs of about 21g of weight. I recommend you weigh them on a scale.
Shape the discs into rhombus shaped biscuits - this is the traditional Italian shape for these biscuits.
Place on a clean plate. Then let rest in the refrigerator overnight. If you don't have time let them rest in the freezer for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 170C/340F. Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Leave some space between them. Then dust them with powdered sugar.
Bake the biscuits for about 8 to 12 minutes. This depends a lot on the oven. They biscuits are ready when they crack on top. Don't over bake or else they'll loose their shape.
Let cool down for 15 minutes before putting them on a serving platter or eating them.

Notes

MEASUREMENTS

We recommend using the metric system for this recipe.

Nutrition