Pignoli Cookies Recipe

So, let me start with a few musts-- You MUST use SOLO CANNED almond paste. The Odense in the tube doesn't work, it's too watery and will ruin the cookies. Line your pan with parchment paper. I never bake without it, and the cookies don't stick at all when you use it. As for the way I made the cookies, I dumped each ingredient one at a time into my stand mixer and no problem. Didn't beat the whites beforehand. Flouring your hands is important. It helps the eggwhites stick to the dough ball (which will give the cookies a nice gloss and help the pignoli stick) and I think it prevents them spreading- last year I used a different recipe that didn't call for it and the cookies were a disaster. Mine didn't spread at all, I should have pushed them down a bit. Anyway, they looked great, tasted better, and everyone loved them. Thanks!

I've made these twice. Yes, it's a messy process but the taste is good. Here's some lessons learned - (1) definitely use parchment paper to line your baking sheets, (2) use a solid-type almond paste, I used Solo and kept it in the fridge until ready to use. 12 oz is a 1 1/2 boxes. I also put the dough back in the fridge for about 15 mins before making the balls; (3) you'll need about 12 oz of pignoli nuts depending on how much you coat them, that was 1 1/2 bags from Trader Joe's; (4) you might be able to use just one egg white for coating if you are using jumbo eggs. Whipping the egg whites makes the rolling process a little less messy.

I was hesitant to make these cookies because of some of the reviews. The cookies came out GREAT!! And they were so easy. I did make a few changes based upon some problems with this recipe on other sites: 1. I used my kitchen aid to mix the dough; I don't have a food processor. 2. After mixing almond paste and granulated sugar, I first added the 2 egg whites, mixed, and then added the confectionery sugar GRADUALLY. 3. Put the dough in the REFRIDGERATOR for 15 minutes before rolling cookies **this is key to not having them spread out too thin** 4. Line cookie sheet with PARCHMENT paper *key* 5. Coat hands with flour after rolling 4 - 5 cookies. 6. Do NOT roll the cookie in EGG WHITE- it made those cookies fall apart when taking them off the parchment lined cookie sheet. **key** Oh, OPTIONAL, I also toasted the pine/pignoli nuts in an empty frying pan on med-low heat for about 4 minutes. I read it enhances the flavor of the nuts. It did, but isn't necessary. The almond paste I used was not in a can (couldn't find it) nor was it in a tube. I used Solo in a box - 8oz. Inside the box the paste was in a sealed foil bag.

This is a delicious cookie recipe. Refrigerating the dough helped to make it easier to handle while making the crescent shape. A 1 tbsp cookie scoop is good, but only filled about 3/4 full in order to get the inside cooked nicely without burning the bottom. My cookies definitely filled out a bit in the oven. Also, I ended up adding more pine nuts than was listed in the recipe. Cooked for 14 minutes, 1 cookie sheet in at a time.

The Solo brand almond paste is definitely the way to go. Our supermarket had it in an 8 oz block inside a boxed, foil bag. It was firm enough and I didn't need to chill the dough before rolling it. I used a teaspoon to scoop out the dough, and with my fingertips, quickly dunked it, and shaped it while in the egg white (whisk it well). I continued to round it off as I rolled it in the pignoli nuts. My electric oven took 30 - 35 minutes. They taste EXACTLY like the pignoli cookies from NYC's famous Veniero's Bakery, my old stomping grounds.

A) The folks who said the mix was too runny *I think* used Solo Almond FILLING instead of Solo Almond Paste (ask me how I know.......) B) You do not need 12 oz of almond paste (and I hate when recipes do this....expect you to use 1 and 1/2 containers of something). You can use the 8 ounces of almond paste and everything else exactly as written and the cookies will be great. C) I toasted the pignoli nuts in a dry pan before using. D) Forget the aluminum foil and use parchment paper. There will be no issue when removing them from the baking sheet.

These cookies are great and easy! I used Mandelin almond paste I purchased on Amazon, very good. Followed the recipe, I did add a pinch of salt. Baked them on Reynolds nonstick foil (yellow box) but didn’t grease it, the cookies stuck! Make sure to grease the foil! Also, I chilled the batter for 30 minutes, it’s very sticky. Dipping my fingers in ice water kept the batter from sticking to my fingers. Flour was useless in preventing that, made it worse imho. I toasted my pine nuts too. I used a small 1TBSP Mellon baller type ice cream scoop to portion out the dough. Made about 3 dozen cookies. Very good!

This is a great recipe. I used the recipe exactly as it is written with the exception of 2 things: 1) rolling the dough in the pine nuts is not necessary and it uses up a lot of nuts ... just put them on top. 2) I did not use parchment or aluminum foil as suggested, I use silpat silicone baking sheets on my cookie sheets and there was NO STICKING at all. Also, the baking time was more like 20 minutes for me, I am not sure if it because of the sides on my cookie sheets, just keep on eye on them and make you pull them out when they start getting a little brown. The dough is sticky but the flour helps with this. Almond paste is expensive from the supermarket so I ordered a 7 lb can of "American Almond" almond paste online. It can be found for about $35 at multiple sites ... it is well worth it. It can be stored for a long time in the freezer. I am from LI NY and these are very close to those I remember from the italian bakeries back home.

I love these cookies - but you have to like almond paste. It also helps to have the right tools to make this recipe easily. #1 I can not say enough about using Reynolds RELEASE foil to line your cookie sheet! They will not stick - I used a quick spray of Pam on top, but I don't think it's necessary. Also do not use a pan with sides - the cookies will not brown properly. OK - on to the recipe - I used a food processor to crumble the almond paste and mix in the sugar ( I agree with other reviewers that you can use a little less than a cup of sugar) Then I transferred the mixture to a large mixing bowl. In a smaller mixing bowl whip the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the almond mixture. At this point, you can scoop (I used my smallest cookie scoop - 1 tablespoon - but did not fill it quite full) the mixture and then press on the pine nuts or you can chill the mixture and then use the scoop and make balls and roll the balls in pinenuts. Either way works. They do spread so give them some room on the pan. I ran out of pine nuts and used some slivered almonds which were OK, but the pine nuts are better. If I used the almonds again, I would chop them a little bit finer. Bake until lightly golden - it took mine longer than 12 minutes. Watch. With the Release Foil cooling and removing was a breeze. Chewy inside, crunch outside - if you cook longer until light brown they will be crunchy like amaretti.

I used the solo brand and had a dough that was far too wet to hand roll. I put it in a bag and piped it onto the baking sheets. I then used a pastry brush to apply the egg whites and pressed the pine nuts into the tops. They came out perfectly with 18 minutes cooking time. And no messy hands!

Recipe was incomplete. First, the Solo brand (in the can) ISN'T actually Almond Paste, it's Almond filling, as in pie filling. So the people who recommend using the can because it's less liquid actually have it reversed. Pie Filling, by nature, is more liquid. The Odense brand, in the tube, is actually Almond Paste. Using the tube, the recipe is complete (even though I did add some flour to the mix to make it denser.) But originally, I blindly used the can, like others on here mistakenly advised. I will say that you can use either, but if you use the can you'll have to add flour to make it into dough, rather than "Almond and Egg White soup. " So to explain what I did: I folded flour into the mix, a little bit at a time, until I got the desired consistency. That's really the only thing I would add. And yes, I ended up using both this time. Separate batches.

I am a pretty competent cook but never bake because I always want to tweak a recipe, which you can’t do when you bake, BUT I had a bag of expensive pine nuts I meant to use for pesto, which I didn’t want to waste. So.. I made this as directed and the cookies were great. I did read some reviews and not being a baker took them to heart. Used Solo boxed almond paste, parchment on the baking sheets AND used plastic gloves coated with cooking spray to roll the dough after a 10 minute cool in the fridge.

My family devoured it.

I had a. bit of a problem with the dough being too sticky. I think I made have messed up with too much egg whites in the dough. But luckily they taste good anyway.

Delicious! Ingredients-wise, I followed the recipe exactly. However, my mom has my food processor, so I used a pastry blender to mix the dry ingredients. Then, used my hand mixer to mix in the egg whites. I had my GF flour ready to go, but used my melon baller, dropped the dough ball into the egg whites, and spooned into the pine nuts without any need for the flour.

Glad I reduced the confectionary sugar to 1/2 the amt. I also added 1/2 cup almond flour bc it was too sticky. Overall delish!

Wow this is such an awesome recipe. These cookies look so fancy and taste divine. Your guests will definitely ask you how you pulled it off, and it’s actually not that difficult at all. The pine nuts provide such a distinct texture and flavor that pair beautifully with both coffee and adult beverages as well. The almond flavor lingers just perfectly at the end and makes you want to have another bite. Such a crowd pleaser.

This is a fantastic cookie for your "favorite" family members and friends.. LoL. I say that only because they are a tad expensive to make. I like to see the appreciation on their faces when they bite into them. They are really a very classy cookie if you ask me. When I make them for my Italian Momma, she'll actually hide them so no one else can have one! They are a very special cookie and worth every cent!

I used Solo brand almond paste and found this recipe no messier than any other cookie recipe. The ingredients are expensive, for sure, but the results are so good that I'll be keeping this one in my back pocket for family events. My yield was lower than the recipe states, but that's pretty normal for me - I make the cookies bigger than outlined here. I didn't use flour, opting to spray my hands with Pam instead for shaping the cookies, so it can definitely be made for celiac-affected folks. Very good, thanks!

We learned too late that the Odense almond paste is too wet to make this recipe without alterations. However, we were able to rescue it by adding flour until the batter-like mixture we had originally reached a doughy consistency. If you're a purist, you could use almond flour, but regular AP flour worked just fine for us.