A bright and clear winter day dawns at last, the perfect time for a little Saturday baking session.  This is impromptu so I must use what staples the cupboard holds. I scan my recipes for macarons, but adapt what is on hand to a variation on the Italian classic, Amaretti. Eggs are at room temperature, dry ingredients weighed and measured, and since they bake for less than 15 minutes, a batch of cookies can be on the tea tray in under an hour (don’t count the time to wash the dishes!).

Amaretti recipe:  Line a large cookie sheet with baking paper, preheat the oven to 180°c/360°f.  Measure 1 cup + 1 tablespoon ground almonds (almond flour) and mix it in a bowl with 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sifted powdered sugar. Whisk 2 egg whites (reserve the yolks for a Sabayon or other sauce) to soft peaks with a pinch of salt, and stir in 1 teaspoon bitter almond extract and 1 teaspoon (or more) Amaretto liquour. Blend the whipped egg white mixture into the mixed dry ingredients by folding gently ’til well blended. Using a teaspoon, drop rounded mounds of batter on the lined baking sheet; then gently place a few flaked or slivered almonds atop each one.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the upper half of the oven and remove when slightly browned. Let cool 5 minutes, then slide them with a spatula to a rack and dust (do not drench!) with powdered sugar.  Although this makes 26 Amaretti, and I know that they keep for a week in a tin, I doubt there will be more than a few crumbs left by Sunday morning. Whether you make these rustic, moist macarons or a more citified piped version, choose a day when skies are clear – a lesson learned from my mother, applied whenever I make cream puffs as well.  Carpe Diem, seize a cloudless day:  thanks Mom, for the good advice!

An amaretti note: after a day or two, these become very chewy, deliciously dunkable.