Pignoli Cookies

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These Italian pignoli cookies are so easy yet so impressive. Their crisp exterior is covered in soft, buttery pine nuts but the interior stays chewy and velvety thanks to the almond paste base, just like you’d get at an Italian bakery.

Some of my favorite holiday experiences from my childhood and adulthood center around Italian holiday traditions, since I grew up with Italian immigrant grandparents, as did my husband. When we found ourselves as two adults blending traditions, we both discovered brand new foods, experiences, and “good luck” rituals.

One of my favorite discoveries was pignoli cookies, which are an Italian classic and my personal holiday favorite that feature a chewy almond paste interior and a crunchy pine nut exterior. While they are an Italian delicacy and look like they’d be an intense cookie to make, it’s actually a really easy cookie recipe and sure to become a family favorite in your house, too!

Has all this talk of cookies made you hungry? Craving ALL the Italian sweets or looking for a new traditional Italian cookie recipe? Well you’ll be happy to know I’ve shared a few of my favorite recipes over the years.

First off, If you haven’t tried honey walnut cookie sticks (aka sfratti) yet, then today is the day, my friends! Oh, and you can’t forget about my take on tiramisu brownies, and of course a crisp and traditional Italian anise biscotti. It’s perfect for enjoying with a steamy cup of coffee.

Made with almond paste and egg white, the soft cookie batter is rolled in pine nuts before baking just until the edges are beginning to brown. This makes for a sweet and salty cookie that has a surprisingly chewy center that feels underdone to those who have never had the pleasure of enjoying one.

This pignoli cookie recipe (known as “Amaretti con Pignoli” in Italian, translating to “Italian almond-flavored cookies with pine nuts” en English) is an authentic Italian treat. These cookies are most popular during holidays, but work well year round either on their own or with some espresso.

When you’re baking with just a few ingredients you may notice that the quality of ingredients are more important to the results when compared to a typical cookie recipe. That’s true for these too, although it’s less about the quality of a basic ingredient (like powdered sugar for example), and rather about using high-quality ingredients you may not be totally familiar with.

Enter: almond paste and pine nuts.

ALMOND PASTE: this is the heart of the inside of the pignoli cookies. It’s sticky and sturdy and brings a mega chewy texture. This is not the same as marzipan, which is much sweeter.

POWDERED SUGAR: this will bring all the sweetness necessary for these cookies. Using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar keeps the texture smooth.

VANILLA EXTRACT: just a little vanilla to balance the flavor of almond and pine nuts.

SALT: don’t leave it out! The almond paste is very strong and very sweet. The salt will help balance out the sweetness.

EGG WHITE: this is the “glue” that helps keep the cookie dough together. Without the yolk, we get a lighter feel in the cookie. Use your leftover yolk to make my small batch chocolate chip cookies!

PINE NUTS: these are not a cheap nut, but they are worth it for these cookies, I promise.

Preheat your oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and fill a small bowl with your pine nuts. This ensures they are ready to go when the time comes. And yesssss, you can totally sneak a few as long as no one is watching. But remember that they are pricey so be careful!

STEP #1

Cut or break apart the almond paste and place it in the bowl of a food processor. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and egg white and pulse the mixture until it is smooth.

STEP #2

Place the pine nuts in a medium size bowl, then, using a cookie scoop, drop one ball of dough into the bowl of pine nuts. Use your fingers to gently roll the dough around in the pine nuts. The dough will be soft and sticky, so the pine nuts should stick well, but if they don’t, use your fingers to gently press them into the cookie dough. You do not need to roll the bottoms of the cookie dough balls in the pine nuts.

STEP #3

Repeat step 2 with the rest of the dough, placing no more than 8 cookies on one prepared baking sheet. Bake the pignoli cookies for 16-18 minutes or until they are puffed and lightly browned around the edges.

Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Pignoli cookies are somewhat fragile when they are still very warm, so it’s best to give them a chance to cool down and set up a bit before moving them around too much. Trust me– it’s worth the wait!

You will notice that the centers may feel a bit “undone,” but this is totally ok! In fact, it’s part of the charm of pignoli cookies. They have a crunchy, nutty exterior that envelopes a deliciously soft middle. It’s how they become one of your favorite cookies. They just casually draw you in with an unsuspecting and delicious center.

As long as your cookies are wrapped tightly, they will store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

How to freeze a Pignoli

If you want to freeze the cookies instead, you can absolutely do that. They freeze like a dream. All you have to do is add the completely cooled cookies to a freezer bag, label them, and add to the freezer. They keep like this for up to 3 months– just thaw them at room temperature when you’re ready to enjoy.

Pignoli Cookie FAQs

The chewy insides enveloped by a toasty, nutty exterior is the quintessential Italian experience. I assure you– it’s totally ok and you’re going to come to love it really quick. Promise.

You might even add this amazing pignoli cookie to your go-to list thanks to its ease of production, texture dream come true, and unique nutty flavor combination. And you may also have a hard time sharing…

If you’re enjoying my 12 days of cookies (so far) this year, you have to check out some of the recipes I’ve shared in years past. A few of my favorites include easy Christmas Oreos, classic snickerdoodles (I also have a chewy version), and these no chill Andes mint cookies. Which one do you want to try next?