Feb. 10, 2007: Pinenut Cookies

These cookies were a hit! Here are the ingredients ready to go:

Mixing...

Dipped and ready to bake...

Finished. They were delicious!

The first ones we made were too big so we were only able to make about 23. When scooping the batter into the pinenuts you should use a heaping teaspoon/cookie. Also, we ran out of pinenuts for coating the cookies, so you should use 2 1/2 cups of pinenuts. The modified reipe is:

PINE NUT COOKIES
Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, these cookies are like almond macaroons with a pine nut bonus.
2 1/2 cups pine nuts (about 7 ounces)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) almond paste,* crumbled
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar (for dusting)


Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Using on/off turns, blend 3/4 cup pine nuts and next 4 ingredients in processor until crumbly mixture forms. Transfer mixture to large bowl; add egg whites. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in small bowl to blend. Add to pine nut mixture; beat until smooth (dough will be soft and sticky).
Place remaining 3/4 cup pine nuts in shallow bowl. Spoon generous teaspoonful of dough into pine nuts in shallow bowl, coating 1 side of dough with pine nuts. Using floured fingertips, transfer dough to prepared baking sheet, pine nut side up. Smooth edges of dough to form even round. Repeat with remaining dough, flouring fingertips as needed to prevent sticking and spacing cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake cookies 1 baking sheet at a time until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, transfer to plate, and serve. (Cookies can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

*Almond paste is available at specialty foods stores and in the baking-products section of most supermarkets. Or, if you live in Taiwan you have to make it yourself! Recipe below.

Makes about 28.
Bon Appétit
December 2003
Almond Paste (I got this recipe from Ellen's kitchen.)
Makes approximately 1 pound

2 cups whole almonds, preferably Mission

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

a few drops of almond extract

Cover the almonds with boiling water and let them stand for at least a minute. Slip off the skins with your fingers. If they are very stubborn, cover them again with boiling water or let them soak and remove them just a few at a time to work on.
Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a pan and cook, without stirring, until the temperature is 235 degrees F. Then stir in the almond extract.
While the syrup is heating, preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Put the peeled almonds on a cookie sheet and leave them just long enough to dry out and warm up, about 8 to 10 minutes. Then, while they're still warm, grind them in a food processor until the texture is fine and smooth. If necessary, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to loosen the mixture and make it easier to process.
With the food processor going, gradually pour in the syrup in a slow, steady stream. Process until the paste is uniform. Remove it from the work bowl, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it until needed. To make it soft and easy to work with, put it in a warm place, such as on top of the stove while the oven is on, or heat it in a double boiler or a steamer set over simmering water.

1. I only needed 1/4 cup of almond paste, so I made 1/4 of this recipe.
2. 235 F is 'soft ball' stage.
3. I didn't pre warm the almonds. Mine were already skinned and semi-ground.
4. My 'food processor' is a small attachment for my beaters (in the top photo.) It is impossible to add the syrup as the machine is running, so I poured in some, ran the machine, poured in some more, ran the machine and so on until the syrup was all added.
5. When we wanted to use the paste the next day it was like a little block of cement! I took it out of the plastic bag and into a small bowl. I then microwaved it on the lowest setting for 20 seconds--still hardish. After another 20 seconds it was soft and crumbly.
6. Making the almond paste took about 10 minutes, start to finish and it is delicious.