Pasta di Mandorla | Italian Almond Cookies

I decided to make these cookies because my boyfriend- who isn't a dessert person- will occasionally rave about the "pasta di mandorle" he had in Sicily. During his rave, he continues to tell me how he brought some of these magical almond cookies to his sister near Milan and she ate them all up within moments. He finishes with, "I'm afraid if you tried the cookies you would be on the next flight to Sicily and would never leave."
Anyway... I got tired of hearing about these amazingly delicious cookies that I have never tried and decided to make some on my own.

If you've had marzipan, this is basically the same thing in the form of a cookie. They are made of almonds, so this is great for people trying to eat gluten-free. The end result is a delicious almond cookie with a slightly crispy outside and soft centers. They are so good, you'll have to restrain yourself from eating them all. (I think I accidentally ate almost a whole batch of cookies today for lunch and dinner.)

I found a pasta di mandorle recipe on an Italian blog (Thanks, Google Translate!). I modified the recipe only slightly to make the cookies less sweet. They are really easy to make and they turned out pretty yummy. I had my boyfriend try them (that's the real test since he's Italian) and he said they were good. He's always very critical, so I guess I did a good job.

Pasta di Mandorla | Almond Cookies
Ingredients:
275 grams Almond Flour
225 grams Super Fine Sugar (also called Caster Sugar)
75 grams egg white (about 2 large egg whites)
1 tsp vanilla extract
candied cherries, whole almonds, or pistachios

[Note: If you don't have almond flour or superfine sugar, you can process the same amount of blanched almonds and regular sugar in a food processor.] 

Directions:
Line cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper.
Combine almond flour and sugar in medium bowl.
In small bowl, whisk egg whites and vanilla extract.
Pour egg white mixture into flour mixture and combine.
Scoop dough with a small spoon and make 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet and press dough balls with your thumb to flatten slightly. Place a candied cherry, whole almond, or chopped pistachios on top of cookie.
Cover with plastic wrap and let cookies dry for at least 10 hours or overnight. This will help the cookies keep their shape and prevent flattening. (No need to refrigerate, but you can if you want.)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. Be careful not to over-bake or they will become hard.
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Other variations I've tried:
 -Adding 1 tsp of lemon zest to almond flour mixture
 -Rolling cookie dough balls in powdered sugar before flattening them. This gives the cracked effect.
The variations are endless as long as you don't change the wet to dry ingredients ratio. Next time I might try adding cinnamon or cardamom. 

Tip: To make the cookies look fancier. Use your pastry bag with an extra large star pastry tip and pipe out the dough. Unfortunately, I haven't found a pastry tip in the local stores that is large enough to work with the hard dough.