Pignoli Cookies- The Recipe

Pignoli cookies

Close -up view - Pine nut cookies/ Pignoli cookies

When I posted some of the pictures on Pignoli cookies on FB, I have several enquiries on these cookies. My friends kept wondering what these were all about. Some friends even asked for some samples at work and I happily obliged. Eventually, pine nuts are edible seeds derived from the cones of pine trees. These pine nuts are mostly cultivated in Korea, USA and and several European countries. In Malaysia, you can get these pine nuts in several specialty bakery supplying stores. These pine nuts are expensive here, and I don't really think it's a good idea to sell these cookies for Eid. I won't reveal the cost of 500g of pine nuts here in Malaysia, as some people may think that I am being ridiculous with the price. The pine nuts should always be kept in the refrigerator as we have a humid climate in Malaysia. They can go rancid if we leave these nuts in the pantry. I knew, because I have bought these nuts before, and I forgot about them in the kitchen cabinet until they became flour, as a result of being attacked by bugs.These cookies may looked simple, but what an impact they had given my friends. My particular friend was all sunny and happy when she told me how they tasted the day after I had given these cookies to her. "They tasted like macaroons, not so sweet, and I couldn't stop eating them". Frankly speaking, I wanted to adjust the amount of sugar used in the original recipe, as I found the cookies to be quite sweet. But since, my friend told me that, I would just post the original recipe as used by me.

THE RECIPE

Almond paste - ingredients = 8 ounces of almond - finely ground twice (Please use food processor, instead of blender. However, you can use the dry mill attached to the blender- but be careful with the amount of almond that you can use, as the space of the mill is quite limited). 8 ounces of icing sugar. 1 egg white. How = Firstly, grind almond and sugar in the food processor. Make sure they are well blended. Next, add in egg white. The almond paste should be quite sticky and resembles a paste.

THE COOKIES

Ingredients = Almond paste that you have just made. 1/2 cup of fine sugar. 1 egg white. A pinch of salt.1 - 2 cups of pignoli nuts/ pine nuts. How= Preheat oven to 120c. ( I have lowered down the temperature, so that the cookies will not burn. They make take more than 30 minutes to be fully baked). Line your baking sheets with baking paper. In the bowl of food processor, place almond paste, sugar, egg white and salt. Process until it is well mixed and comes out as a thick paste. Put the pignoli nuts into a big bowl. Using a teaspoon, drop a small amount of dough into the pignoli nuts. Roll the cookie around so that all the nuts are coating it. Remove the cookie from the pignoli and form it into a small ball. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Make sure you don't put the cookies too near to each other on the baking tray, as these will expand. Rotate the pans at least once during the baking process. The cookies are done when they are slightly golden on the top. Do not overbake these as they'll hardened after you have taken them out from the oven. To store these- sprinkle some fine sugar in your biscuits' tin, before placing a dollie or cut-up baking paper. Arrange these cookies layered by dollies. They will stay crunchy and chewy with the existence of the sugar and the layers of the dollies will make your cookies stay intact.

Happy baking, everyone....