Amaretti

Patrick loves Amaretto....well, he loves Disaronno, not just any amaretto will do. He introduced me to it when we first started dating. It's so delicious to sip over ice. When I ran across this recipe for Amaretti, I knew I had to give it a try. Amaretti are traditional Italian almond macaroons. Patrick's first reaction was, "You are not allowed to cook with my Disaronno." Silly Patrick, one little teaspoon will never be missed. They turned out so good, and they were so easy to make. They are very light, slightly crisp, and chewy. I love almonds and almond-flavored treats. You can make your own almond meal, or you use almond paste, which is what I did. They are very sweet, and I even cut the sugar a little from the original recipe. I might cut it more next time. Because the almond paste is also sweetened, you can get away with using less sugar. Patrick seemed surprised that he liked them since they are a crisp cookie (he likes soft, cakey cookies) and don't contain chocolate (although I bet these would be awesome dipped in chocolate), but since he loves amaretto, I knew he'd like them. I brought two dozen cookies to work, and they were gone in no time. My friend Stephan was quite upset when the cookies were all gone, even though he probably ate half of them himself. That's a huge complement coming from a self-professed "devout food and wine snob of Italian descent."

Amaretti

• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1 (7-oz) package almond paste
• 1 tsp amaretto
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 Tbs turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place granulated sugar and almond paste in a large bowl.

Beat with a mixer at medium speed until almond paste is broken into small pieces. I used a pastry blender and did it by hand because the mixer wasn't getting the job done. Sometimes a little elbow grease goes a long way.

Add amaretto and egg whites

Beat on high speed 4 minutes or until smooth.

Chill batter for 20 minutes.

Drop batter by teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

Sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges of cookies are golden brown.

Cool completely on pans; carefully remove cookies from parchment. Makes about 40 cookies.