Amaretti - almond paste

Method

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have ready a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plain tip. You can also snip the end of a zip-lock bag and use instead of a pastry bag.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle, break the almond paste into small pieces.
• Add the sugar and mix on low speed until very fine.
• Add the egg whites in three additions, mixing well after each addition. Continue mixing the dough until very smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Fill the pastry bag with the almond mixture. Pipe 1 1/2 inch mounds onto the parchment paper, spacing about 1 inch apart.
• After the baking sheet is filled with cookie mounds, take a damp paper towel and lightly press the top of each cookie to smooth out the surface (smooth out the tip of dough at the top of each cookie caused from piping). Lightly sprinkle a little sugar on top of each cookie.
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies have risen, and are a deep golden color and have tiny cracks.
• Remove from the oven and set baking sheet on a rack to cool.
• When cool enough to touch gently peel cookies from parchment. If they stick to parchment, turn the paper over, take a damp paper towel and gently wipe the bottom of the parchment paper to loosen the cookie.