Preheat oven 170 C
Mix the ground almonds, sugar and chopped dried cranberries. In a clean bowl beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the honey until you get a soft meringue. Gently fold in the dry ingredients and add the almond essence to form a soft paste. Dust your hands with icing sugar and form about 20 small balls of dough. Place these on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes until crisp and golden on the outside. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack and then place in an airtight tin. The biscuits will have a crisp outer shell and a chewy soft centre.
The first time I made these I decided to forgo the icing sugar. This resulted in moist chewy biscuits which were irresistable. Then, just to make life more interesting, I decided to half dip the biscuits in melted dark chocolate. A very interesting and tasty experiment!
Instead of cranberries you can substitute any dried fruit, for example chopped apricots, raisins, figs or prunes. I also sometimes add pistachios or flaked almonds.