Low Carb Italian Almond Cookies

Finding uses for leftover egg whites is something home ice cream makers strive to find. David Lebovitz has a few recipes on his website for just this reason. He has one for Italian Almond Cookies that easily converts to sugar-free low carb.

The original uses apricot jam, but that’s not going to work for a low carb cookie. The cookies will come out a little dryer and crunchier without the jam, so I added a little vegetable glycerine to keep them soft. Pine nuts are a little carby, but should be okay for this recipe if you want to use them. I stuck with sliced almonds since they’re easy to find and inexpensive.

As always, I cook using the weights of the ingredients, so I cannot vouch for the volumes listed below.

Ingredients

Cookie dough

3 cups (290 g) blanched almond flour
1¼ cup (156 g) powdered erythitol, sifted
3 (99 g) large egg whites, room temperature
35 drops EZ-Sweetz
pinch of salt
a few drops of pure almond extract
2 tablespoons (38 g) vegetable glycerine

Coating

1 (33 g) large egg white
1½ – 2 cups (120-160 g) sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched

Directions

1. Cookie dough: In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour and powdered erythritol.
   
   
   
   
   In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites, EZ-Sweetz, almond extract, and salt until they start to mound and form soft, peaks.
   
   
   
   
   They should not be stiff, but the consistency of softly whipped cream.
2. Add the glycerine to the beaten egg whites. Fold the beaten whites into the almond mixture or vice-versa. The whites will lose volume, which is fine. Mix the dough until it comes together in the smooth ball.
   
   
   
   
   You will need to get into it with your clean hands to help knead it together.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
4. Pinch of pieces of dough about 1¼-inch (4 cm) in diameter and roll each into a ball, then roll them in your hands to make them into ovals, setting them on a dinner plate as you go. (You can also bake them in rounds, if you wish.)
5. Coating: In a small bowl or plate, stir the egg white with a fork briskly for about ten seconds to break it up. Put the sliced almonds on a plate.
   
   
   
   
   Working with 3 or 4 at a time, roll each piece of rolled cookie dough in the egg white and place it in the dish containing the sliced almonds.
6. Roll and press the ovals of dough into the almonds, being extremely generous coating when coating with the almonds. I start with 1½ cups of sliced almonds in the bowl, and add more as necessary. After coating each batch of cookies with the almonds, put them on a baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. (You may need to press the almonds well into the cookies to get a lot of them to stick, and the cookies may lose their perfect oval shape – which is fine, the cookies should be a bit rustic.)
7. Bake the cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheets in the oven, turning them around so the cookies bake evenly, until the cookies and nuts are light golden brown. Let cool before serving.