Vegan Ricciarelli di Siena Recipe
If you love almonds, particularly marzipan-based sweets, you will adore my vegan Ricciareli di Siena. Made with ground almonds but omitting the egg white element, these are a sophisticated, festive treat that should be enjoyed all year round!
Ricciarelli are traditionally a chewy, almond scented biscuit, oval in shape and Italian in spirit (Siena to be precise). If you love macaroons or anything marzipan-like, you will adore these. Dusted in confectioners sugar, they seem to pop up around Christmas time, as do most Italian sweets in the UK, but I see no reason to limit them to once a year.
Now, because these are vegan, they do not contain egg. Unfortunately, the egg white is what makes them chewy. It’s a bit of a conundrum, because egg white often makes things crisp, but in this instance, the slow bake gives Ricciarelli cookies a pavlova-style interior, chewy and sweet. So, my vegan version of Ricciarelli cookies are a little less chewy, more biscuity, but with all the flavour of the classic.
They are simple to make, and quite unique compared with other cookies. You use very few ingredients (and another bonus, they are gluten-free!), and then, after having formed the cookies, you leave them to dry out overnight before baking, and then dusting with icing sugar.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- ground almonds
- sugar: white sugar, icing sugar and vanilla sugar (for sprinkling)
- egg replacer, I use Orgran
- vanilla extract
- lemon zest (optional)
This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please see recipe card below for complete printable recipe.
Instructions
Blend together the ground almonds and white sugar.
Now add the icing sugar and blend again.
Add the egg replacer and blend one last time.
Place the mixture in a bowl and knead well until you have a firm dough.
Weigh the dough (mine was approx 300g), and divide the dough into 12 pieces of equal weight (25g in this case).
- Gently form the dough balls into ovals. Leave to dry out overnight on a cooling rack.
- The next day, place on a baking sheet and bake over a low heat, 135c, for 30 minutes until pale.
- Once cool, dust with icing sugar.
Storage
- You can store the cooled ricciarelli cookies in an airtight tin for at least two weeks.
Top tip
These make a beautiful and unusual festive gift for the almond lover in your life!
Vegan Ricciarelli di Siena Recipe
Ingredients
- 110 g Ground almonds
- ½ cup White sugar
- ¼ tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Egg replacer - whisked up with 3 tbsp water
- ½ cup Icing sugar
- 1 tbsp Vanilla sugar - for sprinkling
Instructions
- Place the ground almonds and white sugar in a blend and process until you have a paste.
- Tip this into a mixing bowl.
- Now beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract.
- Finally beat in the egg replacer.
- Add more icing sugar if the mixture is too sticky. You need a consistency that you can easily shape.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
- Sprinkling your hands with icing sugar, now form the dough pieces into ovals.
- Place on greaseproof paper on a baking tray and leave to dry overnight at room temperature.
- The next day, preheat oven to 135c and bake the ricciarelli for 30-40 minutes or until dry but still pale.
- Sprinkle with the vanilla sugar then gently remove to a cooling rack.
Please note that where the recipe asks for milk, butter or yogurt, this refers to any plant-based version that you prefer.
