amaretti di saronno
Do you love tasty cookies? These will be pleasure bites! You may know the Disaronno liqueur… this is its lighter and chunky version.
Amaretti di Saronno are almond-flavored biscuits named after the Italian word ‘amaro’, which means bitter and expressly recalls the taste of the basic ingredient: armellina, the seed contained inside the apricot’s core, that is the bitter almond.
This type of macaron is traditional of Saronno, a comune in Lombardy, northern Italy. The original amaretto is still produced in the town and it is internationally traded by the confectionery owner brand D. Lazzaroni & Co.
Tradition insights
According to the traditional legend – also reported by Lazzaroni company - in 1718 Milan’s archbishop Benedetto Erba Odescalchi decided to visit the santuario della Beata Vergine Maria in Saronno, surprising the town and its inhabitants.
In honor of his stopover, a young couple paid tribute with an original pastry: on the spur of the moment, they had blended and baked a mix of sugar, egg whites, and crushed apricot kernels. The biscuit charmed the visiting bishop so much that he blessed the two in virtue of a never-ending and joyful marriage. The original recipe has been preserved as a secret over many generations ever since.
As a hometown girl, I’m going to give you the most faithful and accurate version of the recipe for crunchy Amaretti di Saronno (the classic version), taken directly from il Chiostro di Saronno Lazzaroni.