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    Home » Recipes » Dessert

    Bitterkoekjes – Almond Macaroons

    Published by Melissa on December 17, 2017 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 71 Comments

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    Bitterkoekjes are almond macaroons with a crisp exterior and a soft center. This macaroons recipe is made with almond paste and without coconut. A Dutch treat that my husband’s family devours on Christmas Day. 

    Bitterkoekjes – Almond Macaroons on a plate


     

    My father-in-law is the youngest of seven children. His family immigrated from Holland to the United States before the last three children were born. My husband grew up loving Dutch treats from a local bakery, especially the Bitterkoekjes, an almond macaroon cookie. 

    When the bakery went out of business a few years ago, my husband decided he would make the Bitterkoekjes for the family Christmas gathering. He started with a basic almond macaroon recipe on the almond paste package and tweaked it until it tasted like the Bitterkoekjes he remembered.

    platter of Dutch Bitterkoekjes cookies

    Today I am posting my husband’s recipe for bitterkoekjes. He uses almond paste we buy at Gygi, a local restaurant supply store, but it’s also available on Amazon. It’s a huge can, but it keeps well in the refrigerator or you can divide the paste into sections and freeze the almond paste. ,

    You can use an Almond Paste recipe and make the almond paste at home. (We have not tried this cookie recipe with the homemade almond paste.)

    My husband is the only one in his family to make the cookie recipe because they can be a bit temperamental and others in his family have not been successful in making them.  Different brands of almond paste have different amounts of sugar and the amount of sugar makes a big difference.

    I recommend you can bake a couple of cookies to test the consistency. If they go flat the batter may have too much sugar and you can add more almond paste. If they stay too puffy you can add more sugar and that will help them flatten.

    They usually stick to the parchment paper. The original recipe suggests wetting the paper on the bottom, but my husband prefers to let them cool on the tray and then put the tray in the freezer for a few minutes, and then they’re much easier to remove from the paper.

    If you love almond desserts, you need to give this almond macaroon recipe a try.

    If you prefer coconut macaroons, try my Joyful Almond Coconut Macaroon recipe.

    Bitterkoekjes – Almond Macaroons on a plate
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    4.33 from 67 votes

    Bitterkoekjes Recipe - Almond Macaroons

    Bitterkoekjes are Almond Macaroons with a crisp exterior and a soft center. This macaroons recipe is made with almond paste and without coconut.
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time11 minutes mins
    Total Time21 minutes mins
    Course: Cookies
    Keyword: cookie, Dessert, recipe
    Author: Barbara Schieving
    Prevent your screen from going to sleep

    Ingredients

    • 2.3 lb. almond paste
    • 7 egg whites
    • 2 cups powdered sugar
    • 2 cups granulated sugar

    Instructions

    • Combined room temperature almond paste with egg whites in mixing bowl until mixed well. Add granulated sugar, mix well. Slowly add powdered sugar one cup at a time.
    • Drop the macaroons on to parchment paper using a #40 ice cream scoop and slightly flatten the tops of the cookies with a damp finger.
    • Bake at 340º for 11 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom and the tops have set and stopped bubbling. Cool on baking tray for five minutes. Slide parchment off of tray on to cooling rack, and then put cookies on the cooling rack in the freezer for five minutes before removing the cookies from the parchment.

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    Bitterkoekjes (Almond Macaroons) photo collage
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    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Yasmeen

      December 12, 2009 at 6:55 pm

      Any goodie with almonds is my instant favorite 😀

      Reply
    2. Trish

      December 12, 2009 at 6:54 pm

      Great cookies! And the package…truly wonderful. Saw some items there that I can get in my delis here and which I grew up with too!

      Reply
    3. Daniela

      December 12, 2009 at 5:04 pm

      Deliziosi questi biscottini.
      Ciao Daniela.

      Reply
    4. Nutmeg Nanny

      December 12, 2009 at 4:30 pm

      Oh my goodness look at all that awesome stuff! The cookies look great too….yum!

      Reply
    5. Deeba PAB

      December 12, 2009 at 3:39 pm

      Gorgeous cookies. Love that your hub has a hand in baking holiday delights, and has mastered the art of the fussy macaroon. Maybe he can begin a Macaroooooooooooooon Tweet??? LOL! Also love the goodie bacg Lorraines sent to you. Gosh she is ever so sweet, that girl! Happy Holidays Barbara! xoxo…have to get back on twitter fast. Am missing you!

      Reply
    6. Nicole M., MS, RD, LD

      December 12, 2009 at 3:29 pm

      oh my, those look fantastic! thank you!

      Reply
    7. Cathy

      December 12, 2009 at 3:11 pm

      OMG, the Austrian Christmas markets are amazing. I've been to many in Germany and now Austria is on my list. Beautiful cookies, Barbara, I know I will like them. Thanks for the tip about getting them off the parchment.

      Reply
    8. Vrinda

      December 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

      Nice crispy macaroons…

      Reply
    9. Lyndsey

      December 12, 2009 at 2:33 pm

      Being Dutch myself and growing up in west Michigan where everything is Dutch, I've had a lot of Dutch treats. These look so good. My grandma used to work in a Dutch bakery and she always made the best well….everything! Every Christmas my grandma and my mother (her MIL) would make a Dutch pastry "Banket" (pronounced with a short a) it's a rolled flakey pastry with almond paste filling. Seems like everyone had their family version of this. I'm going up to Michigan for Christmas this year and hope to capture Mom, my daughter and myself making it.

      I would love to make these and bring them with us! I wonder how it would work on my stoneware, nothing sticks to that!

      Reply
    10. Marthe

      December 12, 2009 at 10:54 am

      Only better 😀

      Reply
    11. Marthe

      December 12, 2009 at 10:48 am

      Your bitterkoekjes look absolutely perfect, just like the once I buy at the bakery here in The Netherlands!!

      Reply
    12. tracieMoo

      December 12, 2009 at 10:20 am

      yum! I love macarons. they look great 🙂

      Reply
    13. Sarah, Maison Cupcake

      December 12, 2009 at 9:20 am

      My husband can only make roast potatoes, roast chicken, boiled stuff and sandwiches so I'm dead impressed your husband made some of these. I must confess starting to break into a cold sweat at the sight of almond related items after my disastrous macaron week this week but I will try to get my mac mojo back for next month!!
      I like the iced cookies and goodies from NQN at the bottom.

      Reply
    14. Mary

      December 12, 2009 at 7:03 am

      With almonds they seem great!

      Reply
    15. Michelle

      December 12, 2009 at 6:58 am

      Good for your husband to work at a recipe until he got it just perfect! YES!

      Reply
    16. livestocreate

      December 12, 2009 at 6:32 am

      Oh I was so excited to see this post! My husband spent a few years in Holland and loved so many of the Dutch cookies. Too bad I can't ask him if he remembers these, but we'll put them out for Sinter Klaas. Great job!

      Reply
    17. Memória

      December 12, 2009 at 4:50 am

      Wow. These bitterkoekjes look very interesting. I don't I've ever heard of them.

      Reply
    18. Jessica

      December 12, 2009 at 4:09 am

      These sound delicious!!

      Reply
    19. Asha

      December 12, 2009 at 3:52 am

      macarons and macaroons at your place!!! how wonderful.. sigh your house must smell delicious!! 🙂

      Reply
    20. Megan

      December 12, 2009 at 2:06 am

      It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!Your cookies sound wonderful. I've never used almond paste but I did buy some not long ago.
      Have a great weekend!

      Reply
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