Monday, December 19, 2011

Pignoli Cookies



Leave it to me to be inspired to make a particular Christmas cookie based on the petty drama of reality TV. To be more specific, the monstrosity known as The Real Housewives of New Jersey. If you've never watched it, I'm not sure I'd recommend jumping in at this point. What was once a very entertaining and amusing hour of fun has now gone down the usual path of most reality TV shows, into a darker territory--no longer amusing, but sad. Very, very sad.

This past season there was an incident involving the loud-mouthed and very sparkly Teresa Guidice, her coattail-riding sister-in-law Melissa, and some cookies. The incident might as well be known as Cookiegate. Apparently when Melissa dared to show up at Teresa's house on Christmas with...SPRINKLE COOKIES (The horror! How dare she!), when Melissa should have known that Teresa only likes Pignoli cookies, Teresa so eloquently informed her that her cookies were going in the garbage. She's a sweet-talker, that Teresa. So the following Christmas, Melissa made absolutely sure to bring Teresa the "right" cookies. Pignoli cookies. That's some sisterly love right there!

So that got me thinking this past fall about pignoli cookies. I had never tried one before, seeing as how Florida tends to lack the delicious gems known as Italian bakeries (although that might be a safer bet for someone like me!), and it had me curious what the big deal about pignoli cookies was. After all, if someone as classy as Teresa Guidice loves them (that would be sarcasm, folks), well then, they must be the most elegant cookies of all time! I had to try them!




She brought me sprinkle cookies! I HATE sprinkle cookies!!!







This seemed like the perfect time to try a new cookie anyway because my cookie and fudge making was in full swing this past weekend. The only draw back to trying pignoli cookies was that the ingredients were pretty expensive. It required two cans of almond paste and a full cup of pine nuts, both of which cost a lot, so I was taking a chance on these...

First, I had to pulse the almond paste in a food processor until it was ground. Then I added a cup and a half of confectioners sugar and a bit of salt and continued pulsing until it was finely ground like a powder. I then transfered that mixture to the bowl of my electric mixer where I added two egg whites and a little honey. I mixed it on medium-high with the paddle attachment for about five minutes. The batter was smooth and very thick. I'm glad I had the sense to dampen my hands because I could tell this was going to be a messy job. The recipe asked me to form the drop cookies and to then press the pine nuts onto them. That seemed a little silly to me. I found it much easier to simply roll and form the cookie in my hands and to then turn it downwards and press it into the bowl of nuts. That made it a much quicker job and kept me from having pine nuts go everywhere. I then baked them at 350 degrees. The recipe said to bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Well, I did that and my cookies were still not cooked all the way through. I put them back in for a few minutes longer and it seemed to do the job. Me thinks I need to get a new oven thermometer...

The result was a very crispy exterior and a very soft, chewy center. If you like the taste of almond cookies, then you would probably appreciate these. The pine nuts are the one ingredient that confused me. I personally find pine nuts only okay-tasting. They're just nothing really special to me. I couldn't particularly pinpoint what they added, or were supposed to add, to these cookies. I think if you left the nuts off all together, this would still be a fine tasting almond flavored cookie.

Would I make these again? Meh...probably...not. I think if almond paste wasn't so annoyingly expensive, I might. But I didn't love these so adoringly that I would have to have these again. I think I'll leave that to Teresa and Melissa to argue over!

But in case you're interested...


Pignoli Cookies

-2 (8-oz) cans almond paste (not marzipan), coarsely crumbled
-1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-2 large egg whites
-2 tablespoons mild honey
-1 cup pine nuts


Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pulse almond paste in a food processor until broken up into small bits, then add confectioners sugar and salt and continue to pulse until finely ground, about 1 minute.

Beat together almond mixture, egg whites, and honey in electric mixer at medium-high speed until smooth, about 5 minutes (batter will be very thick).

Spoon half of batter into pastry bag if using (keep remaining batter covered with a dampened paper towel) and pipe or spoon 1 1/2-inch rounds about 1 inch apart onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Gently press half of pine nuts into tops of cookies. Alternatively, roll the batter into a ball in your dampended hands and press downwards into the nuts.

Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes total. Slide cookies on parchment onto racks to cool completely, then peel cookies from parchment. Make more cookies with remaining batter and pine nuts on cooled baking sheets.

Yields: About 3 dozen

3 comments:

  1. Maybe the pine nuts weren't fresh enough, because they are sooooo good in pignolis. I can't believe we never took you to Fortunato's to have theirs? Next time you're here, we'll have to take you there...

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  2. I don't know. It isn't that the pine nuts tasted "bad", I just didn't understand the need for them. If there was something special they were supposed to add, I missed it. I personally found the actual cookie itself the yummy part. The nuts on top were sort of secondary.

    No, I don't think you've taken me to any bakeries in NYC or Brooklyn. I recall the last time I was there I stopped in a bakery on the lower east side (I don't remember the name) and got that little assortment of pastries. But that's it! But the next time I come for a visit you can make me a true believer in pignoli cookies. :-)

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