Pignoli Cookies

As long time readers will know, every October we like to feature an Italian-American dish for Italian-American Heritage Month.

This year we’re featuring a sweet dish that brings back fond if now distant memories of my own childhood. Of hours long Sunday dinners at my grandmother’s house, which would invariably end with coffee and assorted pastries and cookies. Although even as a kid I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, I always had to have a pignoli cookie. Or maybe two. I found that nutty flavor and that crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside texture absolutely irresistible.

Pignoli cookies are still a favorite among Italian-Americans today. Along with rainbow cookies, they might well be the most iconic Italian-American cookie. And while rainbow cookies are elaborate concoctions you’re probably better off buying at your local bakery, pignoli cookies are quick and easy (though not terribly cheap) to make at home. Once you’re proficient, they should only take you about 30 minutes to whip up. And about 30 seconds to devour!

Ingredients

Makes around 10-12 cookies depending on size

• 250g (8 oz) almond paste
• 1 egg white (or less)
• 100g (1/2 cup) sugar
• pinolis, as needed (about 50g or 2 oz)

Optional:

• A few drops of vanilla or almond extract, or amaretto
• Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar for dusting.

Directions

Place the almond paste, cut into chunks or slices, along with the sugar in a food processor. Pulse to until you have a sand-like consistency. If using, add a few drops of almond or vanilla extract or amaretto.

Then add the egg white little by little, just enough so the mixture comes together to form a kind of dough. It should be soft and sticky but not runny. (You may not need to whole white.)

Using a spoon or (better) a cookie scoop, take walnut sized bits of the dough and roll them in your hands to form a ball.

Lay pinoli nuts out on a tray or shallow bowl. Now either (1) gingerly press one side of the ball into pinolis so they adhere to one side, which will be the top of your cookies, or if you want extra pinolis (2) roll each dough ball into the pinolis so they adhere on all sides.

Then lay the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pinoli side up if using method 1 above. Make sure to space them out as they expand as they bake.

Bake the cookies in a 160C/325F oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are cooked through and just lightly golden brown.

Remove the cookies and let them cool completely before serving. Dust with confectioner’s sugar if you like.

Notes

While the recipe is a simple one that just about anyone can master with little effort—even a non-baker like myself—the only tricky part is getting the texture just right. You’re aiming for that crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside contrasting texture that makes these cookies so appealing.

Keys to Success

There are two keys to getting your pignoli cookies just right:

First, add just enough egg white to the dough

You want a soft and sticky but not runny consistency. If you add too little egg white, the dough won’t be sticky enough for the pinolis to adhere to, and the cookies will be too dense, hold their shape a bit too well while baking. You want them to ooze just enough while baking so the dough balls turn into that characteristic domed shape. On the other hand, if you add too much egg white, you wind up with an unworkable runny dough, and one that doesn’t hold any shape when baked.

It’s easy enough to add more egg white to your dough, of course, but impossible to subtract it, so proceed with care. Add a little at a time. If you overdo, you can add more almond paste if you have any left, almond flour or (as a last resort) cornstarch to absorb the excess liquid.

Second, don’t overbake or underbake.

If you overbake the cookies, they will be crisp throughout, which robs you of that lovely chewiness inside. The cookies may brown too much as well. And if you underbake, the insides will be gooey, not chewy. Baking time will depend on your oven and the size of your cookies, of course. To get things just right, I like to use one cookie as my ‘test cookie’, tasting it after 15 minutes before deciding whether I need more time. If you find the cookies are browning too much before they’re done, lower the oven temperature to 150C/300F.

While it takes some practice to hit that sweet spot, don’t sweat it too much. This recipe is forgiving. Even if you miss on your first few goes, you’ll have a tasty cookie almost no matter what.

Finally, don’t try to handle the cookies until they’ve cooled at least a bit. They are very delicate right out of the oven and you can easily mangle them. Let them cool for at least a few minutes on the cookie sheet before you transfer them to a rack.

A note for US readers

In the US, almond paste is sold in 7 oz tubes or 8 oz packets. Even if it calls for 8 oz of almond paste, the recipe will work with either. You’ll just need a little less egg white if you go with the 7 oz tube.

A small packet of pinoli nuts (oddly sold in 2.25 oz (64g) packets where I live) should do you, whether you opt to cover the cookies entirely or simply top them.

Both items, it has to be said, are very pricey, which makes pingoli cookies one of the more expensive homemade treats. Still less expensive than a bakery, however!

The Old World recipe

Like so many Italian-American dishes, pignoli cookies are descended from an Old World counterpart called pinolate. They are typical of the region of Campania and popular all over southern Italy, where so many Italian-Americans are from. (Pinolate are also typical of Umbria and Liguria. Why these three regions? Hard to say.)

NB: Pinolate are not to be confused with pignolata, a Sicilian and Calabrian sweet much like struffoli.

Unlike some other Italian-American dishes, this recipe didn’t change all that much in the transatlantic passage. The basic ingredient list—almonds, sugar and egg whites—remains the same. The main difference between Italian-American pignoli cookies and Italian pinolate is that Italian recipes generally begin with actual almonds, and typically include some mandorle amare, or bitter almonds, as well. The almonds, often peeled but sometimes not, are processed together with the bitter almonds and sugar to form a kind of flour, which is then mixed with egg white, often but not always whipped, to form the dough.

NB: Bitter almonds are illegal in the US since they contain amygdalin, a chemical compound found in many fruit pits and seeds. Eating amygdalin will cause it to release cyanide in the human body, and may lead to cyanide poisoning. Obviously, it is used in small quantities in Italian recipes, only to give extra depth of flavor. And as far as I’m aware, no one has died from eating pinolate…

Many if not most Italian recipes also call for whipping the egg whites. The cookies are often baked for much longer, as long as 45 minutes in a low oven so they cook through without much browning. As a result, pinolate have a more meringue like consistency. And in Naples, pinolate often take on a crescent shape rather than the round more typical elsewhere.

Variations

As indicated in the recipe, you can add a few drops of vanilla or almond extract, or amaretto liqueur to the dough. These are all ways to mimic the taste of the bitter almonds in the Old World recipe. I highly recommend it. Even just a few drops really elevates the flavor.

Many recipes call for a hotter oven (180F/350F) and shorter baking time (10-15 minutes). In my recipe testing, I found it made very little diference. I’ve opted here to suggest the lower temperature. on the thought that it would help avoid over browning.

Some folks like to dust their cookies as well. While it looks nice, personally I find pignoli cookies sweet enough without additional sugar on top.

Some recipes for pignoli cookies call almond flour rather than almond paste. Almond flour is merely blanched and ground almonds, so this makes perfect sense. You’ll need more sugar if you go with almond flour, about half as much as the flour by weight. These recipes sometimes call for whole eggs rather than just the whites. Since the dough won’t be quite as sticky, you may need to brush the dough balls with egg white so the pignolis stick. The main advantage here is that almond flour is much less expensive than the paste. And it gives you total control on the amount of sugar.

You will see recipes using some of all confectioner’s sugar instead of granulated. Confectioner’s sugar contains cornstarch, which gives the cookies more body and helps absorb the egg white. In a similar vein, you’ll also see recipes calling for a bit of wheat flour. These recipes make for a dough that’s easier to handle and result in a cookie that’s more “cookie like”, so to speak. Personally, I’m not a fan.

Making ahead and leftover

Pignoli cookies will stay for several days in your breadbox, loosely wrapped in a paper bag. They also freeze well. After thawing, it helps to wake them up while a short spell in a low oven.

As for the egg yolks you’ll be left with after using the whites, I see a carbonara in their future… !