Pine Nut Cookies

My amazing aunt and uncle from New York City are visiting us this month. My aunt and mom went to Costco to pick up ingredients for our dinner tonight and brought back pine nuts. My aunt asked me to make pine nut cookies and my mom was going to attempt it, but she never follows recipes properly, so I took the project over.

Mom pulled out a book I bought her years ago, Biscotti, which happened to have a pine nut cookie recipe!

Pinolate (Pine Nut Cookies)
Recipe from Biscotti: Recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome
Makes about 15-20 cookies

200 grams of pine nuts
85 grams of almonds
85 grams + 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
2 grams of lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg white

1. Preheat your oven to 150°C (300°F).
2. Spread the pine nuts on a cookie sheet and toast for 10 minutes. Let it cool.
3. Using a food processor, pulse the almonds, granulated sugar, and 50 grams of the toasted pine nuts until they become sandy in texture.
4. Transfer the nuts and sugar to a mixing bowl. Add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, and egg white. Mix well.
   
5. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
   
6. Preheat your oven to 160°C (325°F).
7. Form the dough into cherry-sized balls and roll each ball in the remaining toasted pine nuts.
   
8. Evenly space the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 2cm (1.5 inches) between each cookie.
9. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until golden brown.
   
10. Eat these cookies, they're best on the day of, but will keep for up to 1 week in a sealed container.

I love how the centres are still gooey, chewy, and yummy!

Best of all, my aunt said they were as good as the ones she gets from the Italian bakery in New York! =)