At the end of last year I worked on a food story for the December issue of the Simple Things magazine. The feature was called ‘Tins of Comfort & Joy’ and told the story of a gathering of friends, who each bring a batch of home-baked biscuits to swap and create their own bespoke biscuit selection boxes for the festive season.

I made five different biscuit recipes for the feature and this Amaretti one was one of the tastiest. It was also one of the easiest recipes to make and involves just five ingredients. A joy to have in the biscuit tin at any time of the year, I find that during the warmer months they lend themselves well served with a generous bowl of vanilla ice cream.

AMARETTI

Makes 30

2 egg whites
175 g caster sugar
175 g ground almonds
1 tbsp. amaretto
Icing sugar to coat

Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas mark 3. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking parchment.

Whisk 2 egg whites until stiff, then fold through the caster sugar, ground almonds and amaretto. Roll tsp-size portions into balls using damp hands. Toss in icing sugar to coat.

Arrange on baking sheets, spacing apart. Bake for 20min until lightly golden and slightly puffed. Cool on wire rack, before dusting with a little more icing sugar. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

Thank you to Emma Croman for capturing the wonderful featured imagery on this post.