Authentic Ricciarelli Recipe

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In a large bowl, whip the room-temperature egg whites, lemon juice, vanilla extract, almond extract, and orange zest with an electric whisk or hand whisk until foamy.
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Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour into the bowl with the egg white mixture. Then mix everything together using a spoon until a soft dough forms.
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Shape the dough into a ball and then wrap it in plastic wrap. Now, put it in the fridge to chill for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.
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Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Sprinkle some powdered sugar onto a clean work surface and then place the chilled ball of dough on top of it.
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Roll the dough into a long rope about 1 inch (3 cm) in width. Then cut the dough into 25 equal pieces, approximately 20 grams each.
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Take each piece of dough and dip it into powdered sugar. Next, use your hands to form it into the shape of a grain of rice by flattening it and lengthening the ends. Then place the ricciarelli on the prepared baking sheet, maintaining a distance of approximately 2 inches between each cookie. Now, continue shaping the remaining pieces of dough in the same manner.
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Lightly wet your fingers with water and then wet the surface of each cookie. Now, generously sprinkle all the cookies with powdered sugar.
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Bake the ricciarelli on the middle rack in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for the first 5 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 340°F (170°C) and bake the cookies for an additional 5 to 6 minutes until they have a cracked surface. Finally, reduce the temperature to 320°F (160°C) and continue baking them for another 5 to 6 minutes. The total baking time is approximately 15 to 18 minutes.
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Let the warm cookies sit on the baking sheet for about a minute to set. Then use a spatula to very carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Now, let them finish cooling for 1 hour.

Ingredients

Instructions