My twist on the traditional soft Amaretti biscuit, with a hidden dark chocolate centre.
At Easter, it is a tradition to make a batch of amaretti biscuits as an alternative to the traditional chocolate egg. I decided to have a little play and try a few alternative flavours. One of the ones I tried was to roll them in cocoa powder instead of icing sugar before cooking – dark chocolate and almond is such a lovely flavour combination isn’t it?
This first attempt wasn’t perfect (I don’t know about you, but my cooking experiments rarely are first go, I’m more of an ‘if at first you don’t succeed…’ kind of person) but I was definitely on to something, so I continued to work on perfecting the recipe.
In the end I decided on rolling them in a mix of cocoa powder and icing sugar (this gives the delicious bitterness of the cocoa without being too bitter) and also stuffing chocolate in the centre so you get a hit of it as you bite in. This is especially good if you eat them when they’re still a little bit warm from the oven as it’s all soft and gooey 🙂
A new camera and a great big baking disaster
I shared some of my photos over on Instagram while I was making them on Tuesday, mostly because I’ve bought myself a new camera and I was all excited about testing it out! It’s much more compact than my big Nikon so I’m hoping to get more pictures while I’m out and about to share.
Sadly all the camera excitement meant that I wasn’t really focussed on what I was doing with the cooking and those pretty cookies met a sad end when I accidentally cooked them 50ºC higher than I was supposed to. I didn’t realise until I was hit by the smell of burning chocolate from the kitchen – not good.
Have you had any baking fails recently?
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Dark Chocolate Amaretti Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
- 30 g good quality dark chocolate
- 200 g ground almonds
- 2 large egg whites - or 70g egg white if you're using the cartons
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
For rolling the biscuits in prior to baking
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 1½ tbsp icing sugar
- 1½ tbsp cocoa powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC fan.
- Line your baking tray with baking parchment or a non-stick baking mat (I love these bake-o-glide sheets).
- Roughly chop the dark chocolate into 16 equal(ish) sized pieces - they don't need to be perfect as they're hidden inside the biscuits.
- Put your egg whites (2 large or 70g) into a large bowl and beat on a medium speed until they form a firm peak.
- Put the ground almonds (200g) and caster sugar (150g) into a large bowl. Fold in the beaten egg whites and then add the Amaretto liqueur (1 tbsp) and vanilla extract (¼ tsp). Stir until you have a smooth paste.
- Put your remaining caster sugar (3 tbsp) onto a large plate and the icing sugar and cocoa powder (1½ tbsp of each) together on a separate large plate.
- Divide the biscuit mixture into 16 equal sized ball. Take two-thirds of a ball and roll it into a smaller ball. Make an indent with your finger in the middle and nestle a piece of dark chocolate in the indent. Roll the remaining third into a disk and place it on top of the chocolate. Pinch around the edges to seal the chocolate inside.
- Roll the biscuit in the caster sugar and then in the icing sugar/cocoa powder mix and place it on the baking tray. Flatten it a little (if you want, this isn't essential it's just how I like them to look).
- Repeat until you've made all 16 biscuits, then place the tray in the oven for 15-17 minutes until they look just like the ones in the pictures.
- Once they're cooked remove them from the oven and leave them to cool for a few minutes on the tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Gluten-Free
- Corn-Free
- Soy-Free
These can be made dairy-free by switching the dark chocolate for a dairy-free alternative.
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
[email protected] says
Charlotte made six batches of all your Lemon Ameretto biscuits so far, the first were too sweet, so as you said, I reduced the sugar to 70gm, they were delicious. I’m going to try your chocolate ones today, thought I’d add orange extract this time, as it goes so well with chocolate recipes. Love your lively kitchen, Happy Christmas to you x
Chris says
Sounds lovely.
How long will these last? (Thinking for Christmas gifts)
Charlotte Oates says
The biscuits will last a couple of weeks if stored in an airtight container. They make excellent gifts.
Tricia says
Has anyone tried these with Nutella instead of chocolate?
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t know anyone that has but I would imagine it would work.
If you have a look at my Christmas Amaretti you can see how I fill them with mincemeat, I’d use the same method for Nutella.
angela ferguson says
wow i have just come across these whilst looking for an amaretti plain biscuit, but now I am going to make the original, lemon and these chocolate ones for Christmas gifts. thanks for the recipe! looking forward to a baking day.
Jayne says
I made these today & they are delicious, I’m making another batch tomorrow!
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
These look amazing! I bookmarked the ‘plain’ version you did a while ago, but these are even better….. well, they contain chocolate, so…..
I have to make them!
Charlotte Oates says
Doesn’t stuffing things with chocolate always make them better?!
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
Wow, these are amazing Charlotte. I love the idea of the dark chocolate centre, especially when they’re still warm, delicious. Pinned and Yummed x
Charlotte Oates says
Oh yes, definitely nibble a couple when they’ve not completely cooled!
Claire says
I need a batch delivered here please!
Charlotte Oates says
They’re very easy to make, after your crown cake you should have no trouble with these 🙂
Mel says
These little babies look right up my street. I’d have them with a latte please!
Charlotte Oates says
They are good and really easy to make x