Ricciarelli with sour cherries and pistachio

This recipe is adapted from a recipe which was first published in my cookbook “Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking” published by Murdoch books in 2023.

Makes approximately 20 cookies

Ingredients:

250g almond meal
220g caster sugar
zest of half a lemon and/or zest of 1/2 an orange
1/4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
65g egg whites (approximately from 2 eggs)
100g dried sour cherries
60g shelled pistachio
1/2 cup icing sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180C conventional, 160C fan-forced.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the almond meal, caster sugar, citrus zest, bi-carb, sea salt and stir to mix. Add in the egg whites. At first it will seem like its not enough but it is. Keep mixing until there are no dry patches. Use a stiff spoon or spatula to mix in the cherries and pistachios. Roll into 20 equally sized balls (approximately 35g each) and then toss those in the icing sugar. Place them onto baking paper lined trays with plenty of space around them. Allow them to dry out on the bench for at least 20 minutes but up to an hour. After this time pinch two sides of the dough balls to make a more oval shape and to encourage the beautiful cracking of the top.

Bake for 12-16 minutes until they are lightly golden, puffed and crackly. If baking two trays at once, halfway through the bake time, swap the trays, top to bottom. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the rack. Enjoy immediately or store in a sealed container. These keep really well for several days.