Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno

[Fat Guy]

When I was growing up, my parents used to buy a one-pound tin of Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookies about once a month. The distinctive square red-and-orange tins accumulated and my mother put them to good use: each one received a label and became the storage vessel for "string," "buttons," "pencils," you name it. To this day, there are probably a hundred of those tins in my mother's apartment, even though she hasn't bought the cookies in about 13 years.

Last week I was looking for a food gift to bring to some cousins who were having us over for a party, and I spied the red-and-orange tins on the shelf of the market where I do my weekly shopping. They're not cheap: about $18, and that's about the lowest price you'll ever see (most places charge $20+). Once you have a tin, these days you can save a little money by buying refills in paper bags, but you only save a few dollars and you don't get the tin.

It had been a long time since I tasted a Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookie. They were my father's favorite cookie, in part because he loved them and in part because at the end of his life he was on an uncompromising low-fat diet (this was when they thought low-fat/high-carb would spare you from heart disease). Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookies have only three ingredients: sugar, apricot kernels and egg whites. An "armelline" extract is made from the apricot kernels, and the finished cookies are a little bit biscotti-like, but not really. Within the tin, they come wrapped in paper, two small cookies to a packet. (They are, by the way, certified kosher by the O-U -- I checked because these cousins are very observant.) According to the marketing literature, Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookies are still made using the recipe created by Davide Lazzaroni in 1718.

After my father passed away in 1995, the Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookies just weren't a part of our lives. I didn't consciously avoid them, but I guess something in me didn't want to encounter them. I think when I bought the gift I just assumed they'd go up on a shelf and be forgotten. I didn't imagine the cousins would open them right up and start passing cookies around. But there I was, an open tin of Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno being held out to me, the paper-wrapped cookie couples nestled together waiting to be eaten. I reached in, unwrapped, took a bite.

Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookies are even better than I remember. They have a beautiful crunchy-chewy texture, the apricot-kernel flavor (which you probably would guess was almond) is haunting, they're not too sweet but they're sweet enough. The elegance of these cookies, formed from such simple ingredients, is astounding. And those tins! It's worth buying the cookies just to have the tins, and it's worth buying the tins just to have the cookies. Good thing they come together.

[weinoo]

They're also really good crushed up and sprinkled in or on top of fruit that you might be baking (cored apples, peach halves, etc.).

And on ice cream as well .

[chezcherie]

what's the deal with lighting the wrappers on fire and making a wish? i have seen this or read about it, but it is a dim memory...will someone please describe this tradition in detail? thanks!

[Dianabanana]

what's the deal with lighting the wrappers on fire and making a wish? i have seen this or read about it, but it is a dim memory...will someone please describe this tradition in detail? thanks!

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You roll the paper into a tube and light the top end, then let go and make a wish as convection pulls the paper up in the night sky or your kitchen ceiling, as the case may be.

I absolutely adore these on baked pears or just alternating bites of amaretti and dark chocolate.

[chezcherie]

thanks, dianabanana.

[DCP]

I haven't had the cookies, but the same distinctive styling is used on the tin containing Lazzaroni Amaretto - an infusion of said cookies in alcohol. It's one of the sweeter amarettos on the market, and while not as complex as Luxardo, still every bit as worthwhile over Disaronno Originale and the like.

[Fat Guy]

Is it actually an infusion made from the cookies, or do they just use the same apricot-kernel extract or make the liqueur from apricot kernels?

[slkinsey]

From what I have been able to glean, it actually is an infusion of the cookies -- believe it or not.

According to the Lazzaroni web site:

The Authentic Italian Amaretto since 1851, made and bottled in Saronno Italy, according to an old and unique formula: the infusion of famous cookies "Amaretti di Saronno."

Edited December 20, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[Fat Guy]

Don't let an efficiency expert anywhere near that place.

[slkinsey]

Dude, you have clearly never had a job in Italy. That is efficient, if you're an Italian!

[alanamoana]

i worked at a restaurant in san francisco that, come fall, would make a great pumpkin tart using amaretti crumbs. we could buy the crumbs (crushed cookies) in a big box. you'd roast the pumpkin and then scrape out the flesh. make a dry caramel in a pot, throw in some butter and then the pumpkin and then toss in the crumbs at the end. wrap everything in a nice pie dough and bake until golden. so simple (like the cookies) but better than any pumpkin pie i've had.

[Dianabanana]

^ That sounds delicious! I wonder how it would work to make a regular pumpkin pie and just line the crust with amaretti crumbs first. It would have to help keep the crust from getting soggy, always an issue with pumpkin pie.

[Fat Guy]

I'm feeling profoundly uncreative here, given that it never occurred to me to do anything other than eat them as cookies. But now I'm thinking.

[joesan]

I also love those cookies. For me they always make me think of Christmas...

Another way you can use them is in Pumpkin Ravioli. I've had (and subsequently made myself by reverse engineering!) a really nice dish of pumpkin ravioli (you add some ameretti crumbs to the pumpkin filling) topped with some cubetti of Mustard Fruits and a dot or two of really thick balsamic.

The amaretti crumb really seems to complement the pumpkin

Although writing it down it sounds a bit odd it is actually a very nice combination.

[alanamoana]

^ That sounds delicious! I wonder how it would work to make a regular pumpkin pie and just line the crust with amaretti crumbs first. It would have to help keep the crust from getting soggy, always an issue with pumpkin pie.

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sounds like a great idea. also, top the pie with whipped cream flavored with amaretto and sprinkle some more amaretti on top!

now you've got me thinking. there must be a way to make some sort of amaretti candy (toffee/buttercrunch or something, i'm thinking).

every on-line source i've looked at charges about $40 for the large tin (2#?!). seems a little high. i think FatGuy found a good bargain, damn, i miss new york.

[llc45]

every on-line source i've looked at charges about $40 for the large tin (2#?!).  seems a little high.  i think FatGuy found a good bargain, damn, i miss new york.

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I found this on Amazon which seems like a total bargain because it would include free shipping. However, some of the reviews indicate some damage in the shipping process. Originally learned about these cookies on Giada's food network show. She incorporates them into a lot of her easy desserts. After reading this thread, I'm dying to try them (after we get through the plethora of cookies everyone has dropped off for the holidays). I'm a big tea drinker and these seem to be a perfect accompaniment.

Edited December 22, 2007 by llc45 (log)

[Dianabanana]

^ Wow, thanks for the tip! That seems like a super bargain to me, too. Even if for some strange reason you don't plow through all two pounds in no time, it's okay--they keep forever because they're so dry and have no fat (like, a year, judging from the ones that got lost in the back of my cabinet and tasted perfectly fine to my super-picky taste buds).

[Fat Guy]

That's an incredible price.

Costco needs to start stocking these things. Then they'll be ten bucks.

[alanamoana]

dammit, now i have no reason not to buy these damned things. i have been wanting to recreate that pumpkin tart for years now, but just been too lazy to do so. must make full use of my amazon prime membership!

[jvalentino]

That's an incredible price.

Costco needs to start stocking these things. Then they'll be ten bucks.

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Actually I can find them at TJ Maxx for that price pretty regularly. They also carry the smaller sizs for even less.

BTW- I like them crushed on good vanilla ice cream drizzled with some balsamic.

Jeff

[apronstrings]

I have used the amaretti to made an indescribable and decadent cheesecake from a Maida Heatter cookbook. I also crumbled them to make a Michael Chiarello "no bake" cookie ( butter, cocoa powder, some confectioners sugar, the cookies, amaretto), Piedmonte style.

[mcohen]

That's an incredible price.

Costco needs to start stocking these things. Then they'll be ten bucks.

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Why hasn't another company tried to copy these cookies so they could then sell them at a cheaper price? Given the cost of its ingredients, I'm sure Lazzoroni has some really, really fat profits and there's room for somebody else to come in and undersell Lazzoroni.

Lazzoroni can charge a premium because it basically has a monopoly in the sense that if you want amaretti cookies with the same distinctive taste and flavor, you have to buy Lazzoroni. There may be other amaretti cookies, but none of them really tastes the same as one from Lazzoroni.

[joesan]

Why hasn't another company tried to copy these cookies so they could then sell them at a cheaper price? Given the cost of its ingredients, I'm sure Lazzoroni has some really, really fat profits and there's room for somebody else to come in and undersell Lazzoroni.

When in doubt rip off the artisanal recipe and sell it cheaper! Perhaps we could use some High Fructose Corn syrup and artificial apricot flavouring to bring that price right down.

Or alternatively you could pay a fair price for the high quality original and consume them moderately. That's what I would do.

Edited June 5, 2008 by joesan (log)

[Fat Guy]

There are competitors that use identical ingredients and taste similar, e.g., the Balocco brand. They're cheaper but don't come in the cool red tin.

[mcohen]

There are competitors that use identical ingredients and taste similar, e.g., the Balocco brand. They're cheaper but don't come in the cool red tin.

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Yeah, but Balocco is still fairly expensive. Are the ingredient costs to make ameretti cookies really that expensive?