pining for pignolis
These Italian Christmas cookies are a real treat. They’re easy to make, but they feature one of the most coveted and tasty of nuts–pine nuts (or pinolis in Italian). They can be pricey, and this recipe uses a whole lot of them, but I think the holiday season calls for a little splurge, especially when making tasty treats to share with family and friends. It’s probably tempting to make these and save them all for yourself, but they also make an incredible gift idea, as they’re a fancier take on the classic Christmas sweets. Plus they’re Italian. Buon appetito!
⟶ the recipe
italian pignoli cookies
ingredients
12 ounces almond paste
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup pine nuts
Prep time
15 minutes
Cook time
15 minutes
Total time
30 minutes
Makes 12 cookies
instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place almond paste, sugar, vanilla, egg whites, and salt in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and add pine nuts to a small bowl. Using a spoon, scoop a small bit of dough, roll it into a ball, and then drop it into the bowl of pine nuts to coat. Then, place pignoli on the cookie sheet.
Repeat until you have 12 cookies, placing them 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake pignolis for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Place cookies on a cooling rack and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before eating.
⟶ recipe notes
- Almond paste usually comes in a big log, so you’ll want to break it up into chunks before adding to the food processor to make sure everything mixes together evenly. Depending on the size of your processor, you may need to do this in batches. Start with half of the almond paste and half the sugar, and then add the other ingredients at the end
⟶ store it
- Store pignolis in an air-tight container or cookie tin at room temperature for up to 1 week
- You can also freeze the pignolis for up to 3 months
