These Italian almond cookies are surprisingly quick and easy to make with five ingredients and they taste incredible! They make for especially great Christmas cookies and are naturally grain-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.
For such a simple recipe, these cookies are crazy delicious. The outsides are firm and kind of crisp and the insides are chewy.
They’re just like the expensive imported Italian almond cookies that come individually wrapped and have all kinds of weird ingredients. This recipe just calls for almond flour, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, egg whites and almond extract.
Super easy + only 5 ingredients
These cookies are not exactly healthy – at all! – but at least there aren’t any weird ingredients. If you’re after something healthy, check out this roundup of Healthy Christmas Cookies.
These Italian cookies really are quick to put together. Don’t let the need to whip the egg whites put you off. It almost did for me.
I was like, “Naaah. I really don’t feel like getting out the mixer.” But then I realized that even with the need to whip the egg whites, it’s still quicker to make these cookies than most other cookie recipes.
By the way, if you need more Christmas cookie recipes, check out some of these!
100% Whole Wheat Dutch Kruidnootjes (Dutch Gingerbread Cookies)
Peppermint Chocolate Puddle Cookies
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
A naturally gluten-free Christmas dessert
Today’s recipe is also naturally gluten-free, grain-free and dairy-free, which is awesome for people who have family members with allergies but don’t really know what to make. You only need almond flour for this recipe!
Then, after you make these cookies, you can then make my almond flour brownies, which are super gooey, chocolaty and everything you’d want in a brownie. Even gluten-eaters love them!
The same goes for these almond flour chocolate chip cookies and almond flour banana muffins._
Almond flour variation
But back to these Italian cookies. Please note that your cookies may spread more or less than mine, depending on the type of almond flour you use. If you use one that’s not very fine, then they’ll spread more.
I suggest doing a test cookie. If it bakes up nicely, then bake the rest.
If it’s too flat for you, you may want to add up to about 1/3 cup (33 grams) more almond flour. I did this once, and the cookies were still sweet enough and worked perfectly.
If you don’t have any almond flour on hand and don’t want to buy any, then these Russian Tea Cakes are another easy Christmas cookie recipe!
Sugar sub?
While I don’t normally use granulated sugar in my recipes, these Italian almond cookies are worth it! As for whether other sweeteners would work, I’m not sure as I haven’t tried them.
I haven’t tried this recipe with coconut sugar for a paleo version because I was assuming that the darker taste of the coconut sugar would overpower the almond flavor. If you try it out, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Lemon variation
I’ve tried these cookies with and without almond extract and highly recommend using the extract. But if you don’t have any on hand, you could turn these into Italian lemon cookies! Just add 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and lemon extract in place of the almond extract.
And for more zingy lemon cookie fun, give these lemon sugar cookies a try!
If you give these cookies a try, I’d love any feedback you may have! Thank you. 🙂 For another Christmas treat, try these allergy-friendly roll-out sugar cookies! These pizzelle cookies also look amazing.
Italian Almond Cookies (gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200 grams) blanched almond flour
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup (29 grams) powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, granulated sugar and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites at medium speed using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until soft peaks form. Stir in the almond extract and then stir in the flour mixture. It'll be a thick dough.
- Your cookies may spread more or less than the ones pictured, depending on whether or not your almond flour is very fine or not. I suggest doing a test cookie. If it bakes up nicely, then bake the rest. If it's too flat for you, you may want to add up to about 1/3 cup (33 grams) more almond flour. I did this once and the cookies were still sweet enough and worked perfectly.
- Roll into balls, about 1 1/2 tablespoons in size, and roll in the powdered sugar. Place the cookies 2” apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the tops have crackled and the bottoms of the cookies have lightly browned. Let cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Comments & Reviews
Jere Cassidy says
These are tasty bite-sized cookies and are so perfect with tea. Love the easy ingredients.
Neha says
I love how these cookies contain just 5 ingredients and are free from all purpose flour. Totally trying them out.
Natalie says
These almond cookies look fantastic. And they are so easy to make. I will try substituting white sugar with keto low-carb sugars. I Will let you know how they turned out. Can’t wait to give them a try.
Sam says
I love cookie season! These cookies look so good. Excited to add them to my holiday baking list.
Jamie says
These cookies are so cute and easy to make! I love the flavor of the almonds and how chewy it is. It’s definitely a favorite in our house!
Tara says
These cookies always remind me of my grandma. Delicious and easy to make. Thanks!
Nicole says
Man, I love store bought cookies, but I hate those ingredients lists! I’ve never had Italian Almond Cookies, but with a simple ingredients list like this, I would never both buying them – definitely homemade only! Very much appreciate your tip on doing a test run first, and adjusting almond flour as needed.
Denise says
Italian Almond Cookies are a favorite of mine! I am looking forward to trying your recipe, thanks for sharing it!
Kathryn Donangelo says
These cookies are so delicious and love how easy they are to make! I will make these again or my family on Christmas!
veenaazmanov says
Looks like a quick and healthy and delicious cookie recipe. Best as a snack box option too.
Amy Liu Dong says
A delicious treat to make for my kids and I am pretty sure they will love this. Yum!