Preheat oven to 315-320F. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Tip a large pastry bag with a round tip; set aside.

I highly recommend using a kitchen scale and weighing out the ingredients for this recipe. Because almond flour and sugar can settle, cup measurements may differ. Place confectioner's sugar and almond flour into a food processor and pulse for a few minutes to get rid of any clumps. Sift the mixture through a fine mesh sifter. Pulse any large remaining clumps through the food processor again and sift again; set aside.

Prepare the meringue. Place the egg whites and granulated sugar into a mixer bowl and whisk on high speed until egg whites reach stiff peak stage and form stiff, glossy peaks.

Split the vanilla bean in half and scrap out the tiny beads from the pod and add to the meringue. Add the dry ingredients over the meringue. Using a spatula, begin folding the flour and meringue together. Scrap from the bottom of the bowl and press the mixture against the sides of the bowl to deflat the meringue. Mixture needs to reach "lava stage" where the batter ribbons off of your spatula and settles back down in about 10 to 15 seconds. Be careful not to over mix!

Transfer batter into the prepare pastry bag. Pipe uniform cookies onto parchment paper, leaving about 1/2 inch to 1 inch between cookies. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with instant coffee granules. Line your kitchen counter with a towel and tap baking sheet hard against the counter to release any air bubbles that may be trapped.

Allow cookies to stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or until a thin shell forms over the top of each cookie. Humidity affects this process; avoid making these cookies on very humid days! Place cookies into preheated oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes. If cookies color too quickly, turn oven temperature down and increase baking time.

Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then remove cookies from parchment paper and onto cooling rack to cool completely.

Prepare the filling: place softened butter and softened cream cheese into mixer bowl. Whisk on high speed for 5 to 7 minutes until mixture is light and fluffy. Add a few cups of confectioner's sugar until filling is thick and creamy. Finally, add the Amaretto and instant coffee. Whisk for 30 seconds, then transfer the filling into a pastry bag.

Turn half of the cookies upside down and pipe a generous amount of filling onto each half. Top with a second cookies and create a cookie sandwich. Place cookies into an airtight container and then into the refrigerator. Allow the cookies to mature for at least 1 day, 2 days preferably. Remove the cookies 30 minutes before enjoying.

NOTE: if you don't like too much filling in your cookies, half the filling recipe. This recipe yields lots of filling! Or keep the extra filling for a second batch!