AMYGDALOTA: GREEK-STYLE CHEWY ALMOND COOKIES

Christmas Recipes, Cookies, Dessert, Gluten Free

Amygdalota are delicious Greek-style chewy almond cookies that are crisp on the outside while chewy on the inside. I’ll give you two ways to make them and a couple ways to make them your own!

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These delicious Greek-style chewy almond cookies are made with just a few ingredients and are so simple to make! The cookies are called Amygdalota in Greek, but they’re an almond meringue cookie. I’ve made these in the past, but there are two ways to make these cookies.

Every time I go to my sister’s house in NY, we go to a bakery in Whitestone known as Aphrodite‘s Sweets. They have the best Greek-style chewy almond cookies, and they’re a little fluffier and taller than mine. So, I’ve posted both videos and I’m going to tell you how to make them both ways!

Amygdalota: Greek Almond Cookies (gluten-free)

The ingredients

The basic ingredients for both recipes are the same.

Egg Whites
Granulated sugar
Almond meal (aka blanched almond flour)
Salt
Pure almond extract
Orange blossom water or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Optional garnish:

1 cup blanched sliced almonds
7 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate, melted to dip cookies in
Pastry cream for cookie sandwiches
mix chocolate chips into the batter

How to make Greek-style chewy almond cookies

This is my original recipe. It’s a little sweeter, and I use orange blossom water. You can use any of your favorite flavorings, like rose or lemon. Here’s how to make my original version of Greek-style chewy almond cookies:

Preheat oven to 325 °F, 165 °C.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites on high speed until thick and stiff.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, sugar, almond extract, and orange blossom water. Mix until combined.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the almond flour mixture until a dough is formed.
Using a small ice cream scoop or 2 spoons, scoop walnut-sized pieces of dough onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. If you want to get a little fancier, fill a piping bag that has been fitted with the star attachment with the batter. Do not fill more than halfway. Pipe swirls of these cookies onto baking trays that have been lined with parchment paper.
Sprinkle some sliced almonds over the top of each cookie, and slightly press them gently into the cookie dough.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 15 minutes. The cookies will be pale and slightly golden around the edges.
If baking two trays together, make sure to rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking.
Allow the cookies to cool completely.
If decorating with chocolate, spread some melted chocolate on the bottom of each cookie place the cookies chocolate-side up on the baking tray until they set. You may also place them in the freezer or refrigerator for 15-20 minutes or until the chocolate hardens.

How to make Greek-style chewy almond cookies a little fluffier

I don’t have the recipe from Aphrodite’s. However, this is as close as I could get to their cookie. They come out a little taller but still nice and chewy on the inside while crisp on the outside. The only difference in the recipe is that I used vanilla extract instead of orange blossom water. Also, I reduced the sugar to 1 and 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups. I piped the batter through a piping bag with a star tip in this video instead of scooping the dough onto the pan.

Preheat oven to 325 °F, 165 °C.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites on high speed until thick and stiff.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, sugar, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the almond flour mixture until a dough is formed.
Using a small ice cream scoop or 2 spoons, scoop walnut-sized pieces of dough onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. If you want to get a little fancier, fill a piping bag that has been fitted with the star attachment with the batter. Do not fill more than halfway. Pipe swirls of these cookies onto baking trays that have been lined with parchment paper.
Sprinkle some sliced almonds over the top of each cookie, and slightly press them gently into the cookie dough.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 15 minutes. The cookies will be pale and slightly golden around the edges.
If baking 2 trays together, make sure to rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking.
Allow the cookies to cool completely.
Again, you can decorate by spreading some melted chocolate on the bottom of each cookie, or you can fill two cookies with pastry.

Serving…

My favorite way to serve these cookies is with melted dark or semi-sweet chocolate on the bottom. If you want to use the leftover egg yolks, you can make a small batch of pastry cream to create sandwich cookies. Here is my super simple pastry cream recipe!

Serve your Greek-style chewy almond cookies with a hot cup of coffee or tea. They would be perfect to box up as a gift or to serve at a party.

Choose which way to make your amygdalota, what flavors you like best, and your favorite way to decorate. You won’t be disappointed either way!