Italian Cherry Almond Cookies (gluten-free!)

For Day 3 I’m bringing you the cutest, most unusual cookies you’ll bake this vacation season. They’re extremely straightforward to make proper in a single bowl, are completely candy, and simply so occur to be grain-free, gluten-free, AND dairy-free.

These Italian cherry almond cookies are impressed by my buddy Angie, who has shared a model of her Nonna’s Italian Cookies with me years in the past, and my very own private love for cherry and almond flavors (IYKYK). They’re a enjoyable new tackle thumbprint cookies as a result of as an alternative of a peanut butter cookie base and chocolate center, they’re like thumbprint snowball cookies with a candy maraschino cherry center.

These cookies are nice for baking with little ones, too! My kiddos had a lot enjoyable rolling the cookie dough in powdered sugar, and thoroughly including (and consuming) the cherries. Deliver these to your vacation cookie change, or bake them up on your weekly candy deal with.

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The whole lot you’ll must make these cherry almond cookies

These cute little gluten-free cherry almond cookies couldn’t be simpler to make with only a handful of straightforward elements. Right here’s what you’ll want:

• Almond flour: the bottom of the cookies is almond flour, and it’s the one flour within the recipe!
• Sugar: we’re utilizing white granulated sugar to sweeten the cookies.
• Lemon zest: a bit lemon zest provides a stunning brightness to pair with the almond taste.
• Egg whites: to present the cookies the proper, gentle texture, we’re including egg whites solely (not full eggs!)
• Almond extract: a bit almond extract is the important thing to the cherry almond taste.
• Powdered sugar: give the cookies a reasonably, festive look by rolling the dough balls in powdered sugar.
• Cherries: for the ultimate cherry contact, you’ll indent every dough ball and place a maraschino or luxardo cherry into every one!

My favourite cherries to make use of

Whereas common maraschino cherries work for this recipe, I personally LOVE these cookies with Luxardo cherries, that are made cherries preserved in a wealthy syrup and really good for cocktails, too. The flavour of those cherries is like some other and a jar of them additionally makes the proper stocking stuffer or vacation present for cocktail lovers, too!

Can I exploit a unique flour?

Sadly no,  I can not suggest a unique flour for these gluten and grain-free almond cherry cookies. The almond flour provides them the proper texture and taste!

Is there a vegan choice?

Whereas these cookies are utterly dairy-free, I haven’t examined this recipe utilizing a vegan substitute for the egg whites. I believe flax eggs might change the feel of the cookies an excessive amount of, however let me know within the feedback in the event you attempt utilizing them!

A simple cherry various

In case you can’t discover luxardo or maraschino cherries, you’ll be able to sub every cherry for a ½ teaspoon of cherry jam and fill the opening, then bake as directed. They are going to nonetheless have fantastic cherry taste!

Tips on how to make gluten-free cherry almond cookies

As I discussed earlier, these cookies couldn’t be simpler to make. You’ll simply want one bowl (no electrical mixer or stand mixer), and there’s no want to sit back the dough!

1. Combine the dough. Whisk collectively the flour, sugar, and lemon zest, then combine within the egg whites and almond extract. The dough may begin a bit crumbly, so combine till it’s sticky.
2. Roll the dough balls. Roll the cookie dough into about 18 balls, then roll the dough balls right into a shallow bowl or plate of powdered sugar and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Prep the cherries. Drain the cherries from the maraschino cherry juice within the jar and pat them dry with a paper towel.
4. Prime & bake. Gently make an indent into every dough ball along with your thumb, place a cherry into the indentation, after which bake them up.
5. Cool & get pleasure from! Pull the cookie out as soon as the dough is popping barely golden on the underside edges, cool them on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then switch to a wire rack. Take pleasure in!

Storing & freezing ideas

• To retailer: merely retailer these cherry almond cookies in an hermetic container for as much as 5 days at room temp.
• To freeze: you’ll be able to both freeze the dough or freeze the baked cookies for as much as 3 months! Try all of my ideas & methods for freezing cookies right here. I’d suggest re-rolling the cookies in powdered sugar after thawing the baked cookies in order that they’re good and fairly.

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I hope you’re keen on these Italian cherry almond cookies! In case you make them remember to go away a remark and a ranking so I understand how you preferred them. Take pleasure in, xo!