Amaretti are Italy’s most famous cookie export with reason! Lightly crisp on the outside and silky smooth on the inside, these keto amaretti vary little (if at all!) from the original.
Gluten Free & Keto Amaretti Cookies 🍪
Just 4 Ingredients!
Did you guys know amaretti are naturally gluten and dairy free (and aside from the sugar, naturally keto too?!). All in all, these little Italian (rather unassuming!) cookies rival even the most complex of biscuits with their incredible taste and texture.
And at 1g net carbs (and 4g good fats!) a pop, you can think of these guys as fat bomb cookies supreme.
Plus, these cookies hold a special place in my heart. You see, it was the first (baking) recipe which I successfully whipped up back in my university years. So I’ve been whipping up these amaretti for the past decade (⏰!!), i.e. they’ve withstood the test of time and still get baked religiously at chez moi!
The Flours
This recipe uses (finely ground!) almond flour only (
!!).
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds, as almond meal will result in dense cookies that just melt away.
The Sweetener 🍯
Arguably these keto amaretti work best with erythritol sweeteners (think Lakanto and powdered Swerve). Xylitol works best taste-wise, but it takes (much) longer to ‘dry out’ so your amaretti will be extra delicate for about a day and the edges won’t crisp up much.
Whatever you decide, it must be powdered.
So get your blender out, make sure it’s completely dry, and process your sweetener of choice until powdered. Just make sure you wait a few moments for the dust to settle before opening the blender or food processor.
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
Gluten Free & Keto Amaretti Cookies
Ingredients
- 200 g almond flour
- 140 g powdered erythritol or powdered xylitol
- pinch kosher salt
- 3 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- powdered erythritol for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat and set aside.
- Whisk together in a large bowl almond flour, powdered sweetener and salt until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
- Gently fold in half the beaten egg whites onto the almond mixture. Depending on how finely ground and fresh you almond flour is, you may or may not need all the egg whites (it can range from 2 to 3 egg whites per 340g of almond and sugar mix). So fold in the egg whites slowly to produce a thick and stiff paste (see picture in post). If you add too much egg white your amaretti will flat flat, though still be delicious.
- Fold in almond extract until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as you will pop the egg whites bubbles.
- Using your hands, gently form 1-inch rounds and place them on the baking sheet. Let rest for two hours uncovered to harden (similar to French macarons!).
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tops are a light golden brown. Allow to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet and sprinkle with powdered sweetener.
- Store in an airtight container for about a week.
Nutrition
What an awesome, delicious recipe! I used powdered Monk fruit and these were delightful and perfect! Thanks so much! THIS IS A KEEPER.
great recipe, thank you
Can you use egg whites in the carton ?
You need the egg whites to whip up and become fluffy. I think the pasteurized egg whites in the carton won’t whip up? You definitely need the egg whites to hold air to get the right texture for these.
These are very good, but yes the erythritol had that cooling effect. Normally I use the monkfruit/erythritol blend and it doesn’t have the cooling, but I was out. I think next time I’ll use allulose (my personal favorite).
Mine didn’t come out crumbly/cracked on the top like yours, but I made them balls (gently) – it wasn’t clear when you said ’rounds’. Are you just supposed to drop them? Or perhaps my soft peaks on the egg whites were too soft? I didn’t use all the egg whites.
Also, at 1 inch I was getting about 30 of them, not 20, so I handled them all a second time.
I’m not into the coooling effects of erythritol can I mix that and xylitol to maybe reduce that?
I made these last Christmas and I loved the texture and almond flavor, but I found the cooling effect of erythritol too strong. Xylitol is out because of thieving puppers. So I’m wondering if allulose is an option that you’ve already tested?
Anybody?
If not, I’ll try it, see what happens, and report back!
Allulose should work Shaay!
Thank you so much, Paola!
Happy Holidays to you and yours. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us throughout the year. Your recipes have made better health possible for me – especially on celebration days!
May you enjoy health and comfort during the coming year.
Allulose was perfect, Wonderful texture, no aftertaste. A beautiful cookie that no one could even tell was sugar free.
Thank you so much for doing this with allulose and posting. I have difficulty with erithritol and nobody else will eat my treats when they can taste it either. I have subbed allulose in a lot of other recipes but not necessarily one that needed a dry texture. Im so happy to hear its worked out. Can’t wait to make them!!
Hey Paola,
You mention in this and the snickerdoodles I think that erythritol gives better texture and form but does have that weird cooling thing… How about if I use a 50/50 blend with allulose or xylitol?? Will I end up with the best of both worlds??
Maybe take longer to crisp but not as bad; still brown and crisp especially with the allulose?? Have You done a 50/50 blend thing??
Very nourishing, peaceful holidays to You and Yours keto treat Angel!! 🙂
This reply is late but may help others. I use a 50/50 erythritol/xylitol blend for all my powdered sweetener in recipes. No one notices the cooling anymore and my baking still crisps up (but I live in a dry climate).
Making them now , I can’t wait for these cookies! Literally I can’t wait the 2 hrs 😂lol You should add 2 hrs to the time at the top of the recipe. Very deceiving with only total time of 25 minutes.
Thanks for the recipe, this is literally the only thing I’ve been craving on the keto diet!
agreed! i loooove the recipes here and am incredibly thankful for them. but i do believe 2 hours should be added to prep time. i feel a bit deceived, tbh. :/
I made the rookie mistake of not reading the recipe carefully before making, so didn’t let the cookies rest before baking. I gave them an extra few minutes in the oven. Wonderful! Thanks
Palola, how I love how you help make my keto journey easy for the upcoming holidays! Last night, my husband saw pignoli (pine) nuts and almond paste in the pantry and asked me to make Italian Pignoli Nut cookies. I realized how much sugar is in the traditional recipe, but I agreed. I then decided to try your recipe for myself and wow, was I satisfied! I know I’ll make it through the holidays with your recipes! I used a little less sugar and replaced the conf sugar on top for toasted pignoli nuts (350 degrees for 10 mins). Thanks to Gnom-gnom!
I made these this morning and they taste fantastic! I took them to my parents house for Sunday brunch and they lived them. I did have a question or maybe an observation. My cookies, since I rolled them into a ball, stayed a ball rather than spreading a bit like yours in the pictures. I’m assuming I didn’t use enough eye whites, but wanted to get your thoughts. Should I have pressed them down before drying and baking, added more egg whites or something else you can think of? Love all your recipes!
Awesome to hear about the Taste Renee! Mmm I’m not sure Renee! Did they crack or expand at all? What sweetener did you use?
It could’ve been that they needed a touch more egg whites as you said, but I’d be interested to hear on what sweetener you used as they seem to have a lot of impact in cookies.
These cookies are the bomb! One of the few keto cookies I have actually liked. I added too much of the egg whites so my dough was not quite as stiff as it should have been, but they were still wonderful. Fear of not being able to mix in the almond extract into the dough completely led me to add the extract to the egg whites. Even though I didn’t add all the “meringue” to the dry ingredients, the almond flavor was still very present in the cookies. The hardest part was waiting two hours to bake (eat) them. Really easy to make as well. Love, love, LOVE these!
Awesome to hear Cat! And YUP! I think these take a couple tries to really understand the texture (as you can tell from my explanation I’ve also added more at times 😜)
Can I use maple syrup or honey or coconut sugar in these? We cannot consume the sweeteners u mention. How much should I use of the above sweeteners?? Thank u
Hi Teri! Liquid sweeteners won’t work here, but coconut sugar might be worth a shot. You’ll definitely get different results though, just be aware of that. xo!
Having a hard time finding Erythritol last minute… think regular powdered sugar would work?
Def! Just not keto!
Would it be possible to add a small amount of finely chopped dark chocolate to this cookie dough?
Yet another great recipe, thanks so much. When your recipes state an oven temperature, are you using a ‘fan’ oven or a traditional top and bottom element oven? I can use both but not sure what you use! Keep up the good work.
OMG these are delicious!!!! I made a mistake and actually made 13 cookies instead of 20 so I did bake these a little longer. I will definitely be making these over and over again.
can these cookies be frozen? how about the dough? thanks for this wonderful recipe
Awesome Ann! They freeze quite well baked xo!
I just made these this afternoon for company – something to have with our coffee – and they are wonderful. I love when a “new for me” recipe turns out perfect the first time – and I will be making these a lot – my Italian husband will love them!
Mikaelah this is so wonderful to hear thank you! Hope you keep loving the recipes 🙂
I have to say everyone of your desserts are incredible!
I had the brownies and now these. Your recipes make keto enjoyable. I actually substituted the almond for vanilla because the almond flour is so rich. (And used a bit more egg whites like you said).
I look forward to baking more. Also i love that your recipes have few ingredients. Some of the ones online I see cost a fortune just to buy everything.
Hi Jess! That’s SO wonderful to hear! Thanks so much for reporting back in detail (always super helpful!) and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes! 🙂 xo!
Can these be frozen?
My favorite keto cookies thus far! These taste just like real amaretti wow! tnx!
You just made me the HAPPIEST PERSON EVER! My Italian grandmother used to make these for us during the holidays! I had no idea they could be keto-fied!!! SO SO SO AWESOME THANK YOU!
Well that’s awesome! Hope you love them Rita! xo! Paola
I made these today and they’re AMAZING! The center literally melts in your mouth, just like I remembered. Thank you!!!