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Cookies with Nuts
amaretti
Amaretti di Lucia (Italian almond cookies, flavored with cinnamon, and coffee; rolled in icing sugar)
Originated from: Italy
Occasion: Any time
Contributed by: Anna-Maria Benvenuto

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Ingredients

1 pound almonds, roasted, without their skins [ground]
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 eggs
a touch of cinnamon
1 tablespoon Magic baking powder
Almond extract
a little espresso coffee

For coating
Icing sugar

Original Italian text
1 l. mandorle brostalite, sense pelle
1 t. zucchero
1 t. farina
2 uove
canella un poco
1 limone gratugiate
1 c. magiche
Assere di mandore
un po caffe espresso
Fare une poline, e pasare nel zucchero a velo.



Directions

Combine dry ingredients with wet ones.

Form small balls with the dough. Coat each ball with icing sugar.

Place the dough balls on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper, making sure there is ample space between the dough balls as they will spread.

Flatten the dough balls a little with the palm of your hands.

Bake in a pre-heated moderate oven [350 F degrees] until ready [about 12 minutes]


Notes

Mrs. Anna-Maria Benvenuto has collected hundreds of recipes from relatives, friends and neighbors over the years. She recorded the recipes in Italian in numerous notebooks, often naming the recipe after the person who gave it to her (The one in this entry was provided to her by her friend, Lucia). Being an avid baker Mrs. Benvenuto tried out many of the recipes herself. Because of her talent and expertise, she did not feel the need to write detailed instructions as she knew how to make the recipes without them. However, when asked by this website's archivist (Mary Melfi) for details, she quickly volunteered the information. Nonetheless, as with most first generation Italian-Canadian handwritten recipes, it is understood that whoever attempts to duplicate them should have some knowledge of what they are doing (Easier said than done).... While Mrs. Benvenuto was born in the Veneto region (in 1938) and has a natural fondness for recipes that come from this area, she found that as soon as she immigrated to Montreal, Quebec in 1952 she developed an instant appreciation for all foods from her homeland.... Photo and English translation of original Italian text: Mary Melfi.

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