For Day 3 I’m bringing you the cutest, most unique cookies you’ll bake this holiday season. They’re incredibly easy to make right in one bowl, are perfectly sweet, and just so happen to be grain-free, gluten-free, AND dairy-free.
These Italian cherry almond cookies are inspired by my friend Angie, who has shared a version of her Nonna’s Italian Cookies with me years ago, and my own personal love for cherry and almond flavors (IYKYK). They’re a fun new take on thumbprint cookies because instead of a peanut butter cookie base and chocolate middle, they’re like thumbprint snowball cookies with a sweet maraschino cherry middle.
These cookies are great for baking with little ones, too! My kiddos had so much fun rolling the cookie dough in powdered sugar, and carefully adding (and eating) the cherries. Bring these to your holiday cookie exchange, or bake them up for your weekly sweet treat.
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Everything you’ll need to make these cherry almond cookies
These cute little gluten-free cherry almond cookies couldn’t be easier to make with just a handful of simple ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Almond flour: the base of the cookies is almond flour, and it’s the only flour in the recipe!
- Sugar: we’re using white granulated sugar to sweeten the cookies.
- Lemon zest: a little lemon zest adds a lovely brightness to pair with the almond flavor.
- Egg whites: to give the cookies the perfect, light texture, we’re adding egg whites only (not full eggs!)
- Almond extract: a little almond extract is the key to the cherry almond flavor.
- Powdered sugar: give the cookies a pretty, festive look by rolling the dough balls in powdered sugar.
- Cherries: for the final cherry touch, you’ll indent each dough ball and place a maraschino or luxardo cherry into each one!
My favorite cherries to use
While regular maraschino cherries work for this recipe, I personally LOVE these cookies with Luxardo cherries, which are made cherries preserved in a rich syrup and actually perfect for cocktails, too. The flavor of these cherries is like any other and a jar of them also makes the perfect stocking stuffer or holiday gift for cocktail lovers, too!
Can I use a different flour?
Unfortunately no, I cannot recommend a different flour for these gluten and grain-free almond cherry cookies. The almond flour gives them the perfect texture and flavor!
Is there a vegan option?
While these cookies are completely dairy-free, I haven’t tested this recipe using a vegan substitute for the egg whites. I think flax eggs may change the texture of the cookies too much, but let me know in the comments if you try using them!
An easy cherry alternative
If you can’t find luxardo or maraschino cherries, you can sub each cherry for a ½ teaspoon of cherry jam and fill the hole, then bake as directed. They will still have wonderful cherry flavor!
How to make gluten-free cherry almond cookies
As I mentioned earlier, these cookies couldn’t be easier to make. You’ll just need one bowl (no electric mixer or stand mixer), and there’s no need to chill the dough!
- Mix the dough. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and lemon zest, then mix in the egg whites and almond extract. The dough might start a bit crumbly, so mix until it’s sticky.
- Roll the dough balls. Roll the cookie dough into about 18 balls, then roll the dough balls into a shallow bowl or plate of powdered sugar and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Prep the cherries. Drain the cherries from the maraschino cherry juice in the jar and pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Top & bake. Gently make an indent into each dough ball with your thumb, place a cherry into the indentation, and then bake them up.
- Cool & enjoy! Pull the cookie out once the dough is turning slightly golden on the bottom edges, cool them on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: simply store these cherry almond cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temp.
- To freeze: you can either freeze the dough or freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months! Check out all of my tips & tricks for freezing cookies here. I’d recommend re-rolling the cookies in powdered sugar after thawing the baked cookies so that they’re nice and pretty.
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Vanilla Brown Sugar Oatmeal Latte Cookies with Espresso Icing
- The Best Bakery-Style Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Toasted Marshmallow Ginger Cookies
- Death by Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookies (gluten free, grain free, paleo friendly)
Get all of my cookie recipes here!
I hope you love these Italian cherry almond cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Italian Cherry Almond Cookies (dairy free & gluten free!)
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ (252g) cups almond flour
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 small lemon, zested
- 2 egg whites (from 2 large eggs)
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- ¾ cup (90g) powdered sugar
- 18 maraschino cherries (from 11 ounce jar) or luxardo cherries, drained and patted dry
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sugar and lemon zest.
- Add in the egg whites and almond extract and mix with a wooden spoon or a fork until a dough forms. It’s okay if it is somewhat crumbly. Keep working at it until it becomes sticky. Roll into approximately 18 dough balls.
- Add powdered sugar to a shallow bowl. Roll each dough ball in powdered sugar then place on the cookie sheet, approximately 1-inch apart.
- Add drained cherries to a plate or cutting board and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Use your thumb to gently make an indentation into each dough ball. The dough will likely crack a bit on the sides but that’s okay! Place a cherry into each indentation.
- Bake for 14 to 18 minutes until the dough is just slightly golden on the bottom edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
These are delicious! The lemon zest adds so much flavor and depth to this cookie recipe. Tastes like a true Italian cookie but I love that it’s naturally gluten free! Highly recommend.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
My friends and I ate the whole batch in one night! The texture is perfect – a little crunch on the outside and soft on the inside.
So good!!
These were so easy to make and absolutely delicious!! Will definitely be making them again .
The perfect holiday treat!
I made 2 separate batches of these cookies and both times the middle was not cooked. I made sure the cherries were patted dry. The first batch I placed the cherries in the cookie and the second time I waited until there was 2 mins left on the cook time before I placed the cherries. Something is not right with this recipe! I was very disappointed. FYI- I bake a lot.
It sounds like they need to be baked longer! I’ve tested this 3x and my photographer and videographer both tested. Perhaps try baking them for 2-4 minutes longer next time?
LOVE THESE!! Super soft and delicious lemon-cherry notes all around. Took these to a huge cookie exchange and everyone else raved about them too! GF is an added bonus!
I’m so glad!!
Easy to make. Beautiful treat!
VEGAN Hack – use chickpea aquafaba (juice from a can of chickpeas) as a substitute for the egg white. I did 5 TBS. Aquafaba is a good egg substitute for eggs it’s normally 3 TBS per egg. I reduced the amount because it was whites only. Did you know you can make merengue with aquafaba too?
Great tip, I’m glad that worked! And I’ve heard that you can use aquafaba for that, I’ve just never tried 🙂
These were amazing! They were a big hit at our gluten-free Christmas. I used cherry preserves, and it worked out great.
These are entering my family’s Christmas cookie starting lineup because holy cow these are delicious!! These have incredible flavor from the almond and cherry with that extra je ne sais quoi from the lemon zest, plus the texture is so perfectly crispy on the outside and somehow both light and almost gooey on the inside. Absolutely give these a try!!
So good!! Glad you loved them!
Thank you for the wonderfully easy and quick recipe. The cookies are cute and delicious; they were a crowd pleaser. This recipe is a keeper and I’ve received many requests for it!
Amazing!!
I like the way you cook!
My family loves the brown butter choc chip cookies
So happy to hear that!
These cookies are amazing. I’m especially taken with this recipe for two reasons: 1. It’s gluten and dairy free so it’s safe for a wide audience and 2. It truly comes together in 10 minutes and baked on one sheet pan for 18 minutes—so, it takes less than an hour to be eating cookies. This may very well be the fastest cookie I’ve ever made. LOVE!
Absolutely! So glad you loved them!!
Donyoubhavevtonude almond flour?
I’m not quite understanding – do you mind re-typing your question about almond flour?
I believe the person above is asking if you have to use almond flour. Is it possible to do a blend of almond and regular flour? Almond flour is very expensive!
Unfortunately I can’t recommend it – sorry! Those two flours create very different textures, so I don’t ever mix them.
Just made these and they are amazing! Perfect texture and the almond flavor really comes through. Easy and fun to make.
So happy to hear that!
This is the best cookie recipe I’ve ever made. My pastry chef friend RAVED about them at our holiday party. I used the Luxardo cherries and they got perfectly chewy in the center. 10/10. Cannot recommend enough!
So happy to hear that! What a compliment 🙂
I made these yesterday and they are everything Monique promises. Easy, with wonderful flavor and texture. I used Trader Joes Amarena cherries! I’ll be adding these to the “must make very Christmas” list! If you don’t like almonds you won’t like these.
Yay! So glad you loved them!
Made these for a holiday party with my work girlfriends but left off the cherry. Everyone LOVED them! I shared the recipe with the group and offered goodies to take home at the end of the night. Unfortunately for me, these were all snatched up!
Amazing! Glad they were a hit!
I’ve made these two years in a row now for Christmas and every time I make them, people CANNOT believe how amazing they are. I like them chewy so I only bake for 16 minutes. They are outstanding!
So happy to hear that!!
Can I use glazed cherries for this?
Sure!
These are so delicious and easy to make. This is our second Christmas making them and they get glowing reviews!
Amazing! Glad they’re a hit!