Pignoli – Festive Italian Cookies
The other day I came across a recipe for Italian cookies I hadn’t seen before, called Pignoli. These elegant little cookies are made with marzipan and coated in pine nuts, which give them both their distinctive look and name. The word pignoli comes from the Italian pigna, meaning pine cone, a direct reference to the pine nuts that are one of the key ingredients.
Pignoli cookies are wonderfully indulgent: soft and tender on the inside, with crisp, lightly toasted pine nuts on the outside. They pair beautifully with a good cup of coffee or a glass of dessert wine and are especially fitting for festive occasions and holiday tables.
Pignoli have a long and fascinating history, particularly in Sicily and southern Italy. Their origins are often traced back to Arab influence during the Middle Ages, a period that left a lasting mark on the region’s cuisine through ingredients such as almonds, sugar, and aromatic flavorings—all essential elements of these classic cookies.
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Pignoli – Recipe
Ingredients
200 g marzipan
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150 g pine nuts
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
Place the marzipan (cut into small pieces), sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract in a food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
Form the dough into small balls, about 3 cm (1¼ inches) in diameter. Roll each ball generously in pine nuts, making sure they are well coated.
Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving a little space between each one. Bake at 175°C (350°F) for 15–20 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden on top, crisp on the outside, yet soft in the center.
Allow the cookies to cool, then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
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