Pignoli (Pine Nut) Cookies

Fun recipe, I’m a beginner, cookies came out perfect. The recipe is easy to follow and comes out well. Would definitely recommend.

I LOVE pignoli cookies and I can’t get them where I live now. So, I followed this recipe to the letter and, O.M.G., they were delicious. Will definitely be making these again.

I tried to make these cookies several times. Always come flat & too Sweet. I will try again but, much less sugar and maybe more flour.

Amazing! Great recipe! Chewy on the inside and absolutely delicious!!

this is the best pignoli cookie recipe didn’t change a thing

Recipe should indicate cookie spreads….. despite grease and flour on baking sheet cookies stuck and broke when cooled… Disappointed

This tastes just like the ones you buy in the bakery. I did what most suggested and reduced the white sugar to 2/3 cups. I used an 8 oz box of almond paste with two egg whites. I used a food processor to chop up the paste. I refrigerated the first batch to make the dough more manageable, but I think that resulted in my cookies coming out more flat. The second batch, I put the dough in a pastry bag and piped it out to about 1 inch in diameter on to a parchment lined pan. They turned out MUCH better. I will definitely be making these again.

The cookies are nice and soft with a good taste, but you might want to raise the temperature when baking. Also, you can use an egg beater to help combine the whites and almond mixture.

The temperature needs to be higher at 350° and to be baked at least 13-15 minutes to be golden brown but still chewy in the middle . Otherwise, they will be undercooked and not golden brown.

Delicious!! My Italian ex-husbands family always had these at Christmas time. To me, this is a taste of Christmas. I was surprised that these were thinner than I remembered. Are there two varieties of this recipe, one more like a traditional cookie and another thicker like a macaroon? The flavor was exactly as I remembered though and this recipe will become part of Christmas again for me. Thank you!!

Admittedly I am not a baker. I had A LOT of trouble with this recipe. Real difficult getting the paste to “granulate”. Seemed to get a little better as I added the sugar but I wound up with a lot of the paste “pasted” to the bottom of my processor. Cooked them for 15 minutes and they were still raw in the bottom middle. Could not get them off the cooking tray even though I used the shiny side of aluminum foil sprayed with Pam. Could be, probably is something with my method. But I could not get these to work.

I have made these twice. Once a few years ago and once tonight. The first couple of batches came out very flat, so I added 1/4 cup of self rising flour and they were perfect. Still flattened out a bit, but not as much. I also cooked them for about 16 minutes, because I like them a little firmer. Great recipe ??????

This IS the recipe for me. I used parchment paper and just used a little less sugar. Chilling the dough helps. They taste delicious.

This is my favorite cookie. It was the first time I had ever made these cookies. My first batch wasn’t done enough, so for the second batch I increased the temperature to 350 F. That seemed to do the trick. Delicious!!

I’ve been making this recipe at Christmas for a few years and I think I’ve finally got it down with a few tweaks. I typically double the batch, using 2 cups of sugar but only 3 egg whites. Whip the egg whites for a long time. Get them nice & fluffy and be very gentle while folding them into the almond paste/sugar mixture. (Really saw an improvement in the consistency of the dough) Chilling the dough helps keep it from being overly sticky. Instead of pressing the nuts into the dough, I pour the nuts into a bowl & roll the balls of dough in it, pressing the nuts in as I go. I’ve also found that making small cookies (bite size) seems to work best. They bake evenly & don’t flatten out as much. I use cookie sheets lined with non-stick foil. The cookies release with no problems at all after cooling for about 5 minutes. More successful than parchment, silicone mats or greased foil (I’ve tried them all). Biggest lesson: be patient & take your time. This isn’t a recipe to be rushed. When I try to rush through it, my cookies come out a mess. This year I took my time & while it took me almost 2 hours, it was worth it. This year’s batch is probably my most successful to date and I couldn’t be happier. This is a fabulous recipe and a staple of my Christmas baking.

This was my first time making these &it was definitely trial &error for me. I decided to use this recipe due to the fact that it had less ingredients and seemed to be the better one based off of reviews. I agree with previous reviewers regarding the amount of sugar and egg whites being too much. I also wasn’t 100% sure why most recipes I’ve seen call for confectioners sugar &white sugar so I split the sugar called for in this recipe between the 2. My batter as you can see from one of my pictures was runny causing me to have flat cookies. I placed the batter in the fridge for half an hour and it didn’t make a difference. I began to add flour to the batter in order to thicken it and only after adding what felt like more flour than should’ve been necessary, and placing in the fridge overnight, was the batter in better shape. I was finally able to roll the sticky goodness into little balls and press in the pine nuts before baking. I flattened them down slightly. I coated my entire cookie in the nuts, which I believe made it much easier for taking them off of the baking sheet (which I lined with the shiny side up of aluminum foil and cooking spray). In regards to toasting the pine nuts- you can see from both of my pics that they ended up overly toasty and some even burnt after baking. I wouldn’t do that again as they toast slightly during the baking process. I also had to lower my oven to 315°F and extend the baking time. I would definitely try this recipe again but with caution.

These cookies taste good, although I think I will cut down the sugar next time to 3/4 but I had to cook them more than double the stated 10-12 minute cook time. Use very small spoonfuls when placing on the baking sheet, the smaller cookies had a better look and texture than the larger.

This was fantastic. First time I ever made them, too. I tried to stick to the inital directions (i hate reading reviews with an entire alteration) but I only had a one shot deal for company: I used 3/4 cups sugar and about 3/4 of the egg whites. I beat two as directed but I felt I didnt need all of it. I also through the batter in the fridge for 20 min and I think that helped with minimal spreading. The foil helped but I think if you let them cool long enough, you wont have a problem with parchment. The only difference really is i needed 15 mins to bake. Using a melon scooper gave a perfect size cookie, yielding 22 cookies. Next time, i think i’ll fill the scooper with the pine nuts (which i also roasted) and then scopp the batter so I dont have such a tedious time patting them all in. Simply divine!

These cookies were a request from a guest whose “Nona” made them all the time in his childhood. I used this recipe and he loved them! I have had to send the recipe on to many other friends as well. I will make these often (never telling anyone of the simplicity of the recipe)and enjoy the accolades! So bravo and thankyou!

PERFECT!!!! Just like Del Prete’s! Pretty easy too. I read the tips… The foil shiney side up with light spray of Pam works great…. Using a blender a great idea. I love the Ninja blender, it really does a great job breaking up the almond paste. I doubled the recipe, but used a little less sugar. Also toasted the pine nuts, that was a great idea. Great recipe

I made this recipe with ingredients as written and they came out perfect! Brought back childhood memories! Here are are a few hints…I used parchment and had no problems. Just use a thin metal spatula after they cool slightly to release. Also, change the parchement sheets in between batches. I used the food processor for the entire mixing part. Put the paste in and slowly add sugar. Then add the egg whites. I forgot to whip them first but I think the food processor did that for me anyway. Pack on the nuts as they spread. The processor was great because I refrigerated the mixture in between as it is a little thin and this kept it from thinning further due to warmth. VERY PLEASED with this recipe as it is so simple and uses the least amount of ingredients. ENJOY!!