The moment my plane lands in Rome, I make a beeline to Pasticceria il Boccione, the 200-year old kosher bakery located in the heart of the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood. If I’m lucky, they are still stocked with amaretti—sweet, almondy dough piped into chubby swirls and baked until crisped on top and chewy within. Rome’s Libyan Jews fancy a similar cookie, abambar, which is made from essentially the same ingredients but rolled and pressed into rounds and topped with almonds, rather than piped. Both versions have become go-to Passover desserts for my family, as well as year-round additions to our cookie jar.
This recipe was excerpted from 'Portico' by Leah Koenig. Buy the full book on Amazon.
What you’ll need
Almond Extract
$10 At Amazon
Blanched Almond Flour
$15 At Amazon
Raw Almonds
$31 At Amazon
For swirled amaretti, follow the recipe through the second step, adding 1 additional egg white to the dough. Transfer the dough to a pastry piping bag fit with a star tip and pipe into 1-inch-wide swirled mounds on the baking sheets. Omit the decorative almonds. Bake as directed.
Recipe notes
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