Pignoli Cookies
We've all heard, "you can't improve on perfection", well my sister Julie's recipe for pignoli cookies are PERFECTION. They are soft, chewy and have a wonderful almond taste. I had to ask for her recipe to share on this blog. Julie, thru the years, has tweaked Aunt Flor's recipe and made it her own. Isn't that what this blog is all about? Using the recipes as a guide and tweaking them to make them your own.
The pignoli cookie or "pignolo (macaroon)" is a very popular cookie in all of southern Italy, and in Sicilian communities. It is also typical of Catalonia, where it is one of several related cookies called panellets, served on All Saints Day. The cookie is a light golden color and studded with golden pine nuts (also called pignoli). Made with almond paste, the cookie is moist, soft and chewy beneath the pine nuts. Often it is formed in a crescent shape; otherwise it is round. (our family always have done round cookies to reflect a circle. A circle in a family stands for endless love that goes around and around) This cookie is a popular Italian holiday treat, especially at Christmas. Because both almond paste and pine nuts are relatively expensive, and this cookie uses substantial amounts of both, this cookie is expensive to make but so worth it!
Let's get baking you'll need: bake: 350 degrees approx. 13 mins
1 lb of fresh almond paste (not canned) - most Italian specialty store sells this
2 cups sugar
3 egg whites, beaten stiff
3/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of pignoli nuts
Use a hand beater and process the almond paste until it has the texture of sand. By hand, mix in the sugar and extracts. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites, taking care not to deflate them too much. Fold until everything is incorporated but do not over mixed.
Your mixture will be light in color and sticky. Keep a bowl of water handy and dip your fingers in the bowl before retrieving a small amount of batter. NOTE: the moisture on your fingers will keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Form a ball and roll in the pignoli nuts.
Place 2" apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake on the center rack for approximately 13 mins or until lightly brown. For best results, only put one tray of cookies in the oven at a time. This dough is very sensitive to temperature and you need to keep the oven at a steady 350 degrees. (Once you do this, you'll get the feel as to how long to bake them in your oven. Yes, all ovens bake at different temperatures and times.)
Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Julie said they freeze beautifully up to 3 weeks if kept in an air tight zip top bag. I'm so thankful she made these amazing cookies. I had two (yes little miss piggy had two) of them with a cup of coffee this morning and called it breakfast. I figured egg whites, nuts and almond were all protein and there was probably less sugar in those two cookies then a bowl of cereal.
Grazie Julie per questa deliziosa ricetta di biscotti pignoli. Buon Natale (translation: Thank you Julie for this delicious pignoli recipe. Merry Christmas)