The easter almond doves are delicious, soft little cookies enriched with almonds and orange zest; ideal for breakfast and they will make your holiday table look spectacular.
As with the almond-paste doves I shared last year, you don’t need molds to give these cookies the classic dove shape — just mix everything in a bowl and form the cookies by creating two small cylinders, one thicker and one thinner to cross and form the body and wings.
To achieve a soft texture pay attention to the baking time: they should remain soft inside and pleasantly tender to the bite. The dough doesn’t need to rest, so you can shape the cookies immediately and have your doves ready in no time.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 11 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
- Energy 170.11 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 24.74 (g) of which sugars 11.82 (g)
- Proteins 3.31 (g)
- Fat 6.77 (g) of which saturated 2.62 (g)of which unsaturated 1.54 (g)
- Fibers 0.98 (g)
- Sodium 8.75 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 45 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 egg (medium, about 50 g)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter (very soft)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange zest (grated)
- 1 tbsp milk (the amount of milk depends on the weight of the egg)
- as needed vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Scale
- Parchment paper
Procedure
Let the butter soften at room temperature.
Pour the flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder and orange zest into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg, vanilla extract, the softened butter and the milk if needed.
Mix everything until the ingredients are well combined — the texture is similar to a classic shortcrust pastry but the dough does not need to rest.
From this dough I made 11 doves; I didn’t weigh the portions, I worked by eye.
Take a piece of dough and shape two little ropes: one thicker (this will be the body) and one thinner (these will be the wings).
Take the thicker cylinder and make a small notch about 3/8 inch from the end. Take the thinner cylinder, form a U-shape and place it on the notch to form the wings. The first dove is ready — place it on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Repeat the same process until you’ve used all the dough.
Dust the doves generously with powdered sugar.
Bake the cookies in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F for about 15 minutes; they should remain soft to the touch and should not become dark. Check them often during the last minutes.
The easter almond doves are ready — remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before transferring to a plate.
Tips
Storage
The easter almond doves can be stored in tin boxes or pastry food bags for up to 1 week.
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