Pignoli Cookies

These Italian pignoli cookies are my mother-in-law’s specialty. Actually I should not limit her to this one cookie as she is a fabulous baker. But out of all her cookie recipes, this is my husband’s favorite. Year after year she has sent us a holiday cookie package. The package usually has several varieties such as an anise, spice, Neapolitan, biscotti, pizzelle, and the pignoli cookies. So this year with her recipe in hand I decided to surprise her with my own holiday box.

This was the first time I baked with almond paste. I thought the paste was too sticky and was worried that the dough would be too wet. My mother-in-law's recipe adds a tablespoon or two of flour to the batter to help with the shape and makes the batter easier to work with. Still I was worried, the batter seemed very sticky. I looked on line and saw many recipes that were similar but no flour. After the first batch of cookies came out of the oven I knew the flour worked like a charm. The finished cookies were lightly golden in color and had a slight chew. The texture was wonderful. Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:

2 7-ounce tubes almond paste
1 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 to 2 cups pignoli nuts for rolling

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare baking sheet; cover with silpat, parchment paper or grease with butter.

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Form into small balls using a tablespoon to keep them all the same size. Roll into balls using the palms of your hands. Spread pine nuts unto a flat surface and then roll balls in nuts until coated.

Bake at 325F degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on baking sheets about 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks. Enjoy!