Ingredients
Powdered sugar, 8 1/2 ounces
Sweet almonds, 3 1/2 ounces [blanched]
Bitter almonds, less than 2 ounces
Egg whites, 2 [beaten stiff]
Burnt sugar (optional)
Directions
Peel the almonds and dry them in the sun or near the fire; chop them well.
Stir the sugar and the egg whites for at least half an hour; add the almonds to form a thick dough.
Make balls the size of a nut from the dough. If the dough is too soft, add sugar; if it is too hard some beaten egg white.
To give a darker color to the amaretti, add burnt sugar.
Place the dough balls in a baking-pan smeared with butter and sprayed with flour and powdered sugar. Place them far apart, as they spread and puff up.
Bake in a moderate oven.
Notes
This recipe (#354) was taken from "The Italian Cook Book" adapted from the Italian of Pellegrino Artusi by Olga Ragusa. It was published by S.F. Vanni in New York in 1945. For the complete copyright cook book see www.archive.org. Image -- Edgar Degas -- Canseuse au Boquet Savant, 1877. | 
