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Pale bone-shaped almond cookies stacked on a rustic wooden board beside a small cup of espresso

Ossi dei Morti: Hard Almond Cookies for All Souls' Day

Ossi dei morti are bone-shaped Italian almond cookies made from almond flour, flour, sugar, and egg whites. They bake at 150 C / 300 F for 35 minutes and keep for 3 weeks.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 13 servings
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: Italian (Northern Italy)
Calories: 211
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g blanched almond flour fine grind
  • 150 g all-purpose flour plus 1 tbsp for dusting
  • 200 g granulated sugar
  • 3 large egg whites (about 100 g); room temperature
  • 1 tsp lemon zest from 1 unwaxed lemon
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract optional
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1 water to 3 tsp; only if the dough is crumbly

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 150 C / 300 F (140 C / 275 F for a fan oven) and line two 33 x 46 cm / 13 x 18 inch sheet pans with parchment. In a 26 cm / 10-inch mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites, sugar, and salt for about 1 minute until foamy and the sugar looks wet.
  2. Stir in the almond flour, 150 g flour, lemon zest, and almond extract with a wooden spoon, then knead in the bowl for 1 minute until a stiff dough forms. If it's crumbly, knead in water 1 tsp at a time. Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes.
  3. Divide the dough into 25 g pieces, about 26 in all. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into an 8 cm log about 1.5 cm thick. Press a shallow notch into each end with the back of a knife and round the ends slightly so they look like bone knobs.
  4. Place 13 cookies on each pan, 4 cm apart, since they barely spread. Bake for 35 minutes, swapping and rotating the pans at 18 minutes, until the cookies are pale gold with a dry, matte surface and a lightly golden base.
  5. Cool the cookies on the pans for 20 minutes, then move them to a wire rack. They firm up and turn hard as they cool.

Notes

  • Weigh the egg whites at 100 g so the dough stays stiff enough to hold its shape.
  • The dough should feel like soft marzipan. Add water by the teaspoon only if it's crumbly.
  • For a fan oven, lower the temperature to 140 C / 275 F and check at 30 minutes.
  • Store only fully cooled cookies, with parchment between layers, to keep them snappy.