“ME WANT COOKIES!”

COOKIE MONSTER

Hi there,

When I was a newly minted member of an Italian American family, I learned quickly that any celebration necessitated a homemade cookie tray. And the matriarchs in the family made these trays with such competitive spirit that it should have been an Olympic event.

The gold ribbon on the cookie trays was the Pignoli Nut Cookie. A Pignoli Nut Cookie has an intense almond flavor with moist, chewy centers and crisp exteriors studded with pine nuts. They are, hands down, my husband’s favorite cookie.

Since nothing says loving like something from the oven, I made a batch for Valentine’s Day and, probably to the horror of our dearly departed Italian American matriarchs, I decided to make them into thumbprint cookies. They turned out delicious and, I think, a touch prettier.

Give this recipe a try the next time you want to make a different cookie. It is very yummy and super easy to make.

PIGNOLI THUMBPRINT COOKIES – a Valentine’s Day treat

Recipe by Bernadette

Course: DessertCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy Peasy

Print

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 and 1/2 cups 2 and 1/2 pignoli nuts (pine nuts)

• 7 ounce tube 7 almond paste (do not substitute marzipan)

• 3/4 cup 3/4 sugar

• 2 large 2 white of 2 large eggs

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup 1/4 all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 salt

• 1/3 cup 1/3 raspberry jam or flavor of choice

Preparation

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pulse 1/4 cup of the pine nuts in a food processor until coarsely ground. Slice the almond paste into small discs and add to the food processor. Process until just mixed. Add the sugar and process until crumbly. Add the egg whites and vanilla and process until the dough is mixed. Add the flour and salt and process until completely blended and smooth.
• Pour the remaining pine nuts into a shallow bowl. Using moist hands take about a teaspoon of the batter and form into a ball. Coat the ball completely with pine nuts.
• Place the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. The cookies should be light brown.
• Place the cookies on a rack for 5 minutes. Make a thumbprint depression in each cookie and add to the depression approximately 1/2 teaspoon of jam.