Paul Prause, 65, attacked former seamstress Rosina Coleman at her home in Romford, East London, and stole her diamond ring.
Prause, a convicted burglar, even phoned cops and claimed to have found her body – but was arrested on suspicion or murder.
A post-mortem examination found the mum of two died as the result of blunt force trauma.
At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday morning, Prause, from Romford, pleaded guilty to her murder.
Rosina, who lived alone, was found inside her £400,000 home and cops described the incident as a "cowardly assault".
At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said Prause had phoned police and claimed he had found Mrs Coleman's body when he arrived at her house.
Mr Polnay said officers found she had "plainly sustained severe trauma all over her body" and the court heard an "untidy search" had been carried in her bedroom.
Prause eventually told officers that he had gone round for a cup of tea and as he was leaving Ms Coleman told him to "grow up for f****** sod".
Prause claimed that made him so angry that he hit her around the head with a hammer.
He had felt rage and could not stop himself and continued hitting her until she was dead, he told police.
Afterwards, he told police that he had staged the bedroom to make it look like a burglary.
Prause said he had hidden belongings in his house, including a diamond ring which was later found in a shed.
After giving at least two false accounts to police, the defendant accepted responsibility for inflicting the fatal injuries.
The hammer which inflicted the injuries was recovered from the River Rom.
The court heard Prause had previous convictions between 1966 and 1994 for theft, burglary and taking a vehicle without consent.
At the time of her death, neighbours described Mrs Coleman as "incredible" and someone who was "always happy".
She had lived on the road for decades with her husband Bill, who died about 11 years ago.
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