You can make the best Italian Pignoli Cookies in just over an hour! Easy Homemade almond paste gives these pine nut cookies a delicious, fresh taste and great texture. They're crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, with the perfect level of sweetness!
Mom says my pignoli cookies with homemade almond paste are "out of this world." There's no greater compliment!
You see, my mom made pignoli cookies every Christmas season for nearly 60 years. She always made them using store-bought almond paste though, and would tone down their sweetness by adding flour.
But I wanted authentic pignoli cookies, which contain no flour. They're naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, like these Amaretti Cookies.
So, I began experimenting with making the almond paste and simply adding egg whites, sugar and pine nuts. The result?
Italian Pignoli cookies with a domed shape, bold almond flavor, and an incredibly fresh taste and texture. They're crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, with the perfect level of sweetness!
They're better than any you can buy!
Recipe ingredients
Pine Nuts: Did you know pine nuts are actually seeds from pine cones? They have a buttery, nutty taste and are commonly used in basil pesto sauce.
They're quite expensive, so I recommend buying them at Costco and storing them in the freezer to keep them fresh.
If needed, you can simply omit the pignoli nuts and still have a delicious almond-paste cookie.
Almond Flour: This refers to ground, peeled almonds sifted into a fine powder. We haven't tested this recipe with almond meal, which consists of ground almonds with skins.
You can buy almond flour at Costco, grocery stores or online (affiliate link). Store it in the freezer to maintain freshness.
You also can use it in Torta Caprese and this gluten-free pear crumble.
Egg Whites: It's important not to add too much liquid to the almond paste and dough, so be sure to use whites from the smallest-size eggs (ironically named "large" eggs).
How to make Italian pignoli cookies
See the card at the end of this post for the full recipe, but here's an overview.
Make the almond paste
A food processor (affiliate link) works beautifully to make the paste. If you don't have one, you can stir the ingredients in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until they come together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and give them a quick stir with a spoon.
- Pulse until blended, then add the egg white and almond extract.
- Pulse until the mixture forms a ball.
- Break up the almond paste into pieces with a spoon.
Make the cookie dough
- Add granulated sugar to the pieces of almond paste in the food processor.
- Process until you see crumbs. Then add the egg whites.
- Process just until the mixture comes together into a moist dough. Freeze the dough for 20 minutes.
Tip: If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter to cut in the sugar until crumbly, then add the egg whites and use a hand mixer to combine the dough.
Roll and bake
- Roll the dough into 1 ½-inch balls.
- Dip each one into the pine nuts, coating what will be the top and sides of the cookie.
- Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet until golden brown, then let the cookies rest for five minutes in the pan to set.
Recipe tips
- For best results, use my homemade almond paste instead of store-bought almond paste, which can be overly sweet and doesn't taste as fresh.
- You can make the almond paste weeks or months ahead of time. See the recipe notes for storage instructions.
- Freeze the dough for 20 minutes before working with it or it will be too sticky to roll. If it becomes sticky again during the rolling process, put it back in the freezer for a few minutes as needed.
- For a kid-friendly version, you can skip the pignoli nuts and place half of a maraschino cherry in the center of each dough ball.
Frequently asked questions
Pronounced pee-gnoh-lee, "pignoli" is Italian for pine nuts.
Pine nuts come from pine cones and take 18 months to three years to develop. Then, they must be extracted by hand from the pine cones and stripped of another layer of shell by hand, as Mashed explains. This long, tedious process makes pine nuts expensive.
For best quality, store the cookies at room temperature in a sealed container for up to four days. Separate the layers of cookies with wax paper.
Yes, pignoli cookies freeze well for up to a month. For maximum freshness, freeze them the same day you make them. You can freeze them in a sealed plastic container, with wax paper separating the layers of cookies.
Or, you can place the pine nut cookies in a singer layer on a sheet pan, freeze them for 30 minutes, then add the cookies to a zip-top freezer bag.
More types of Italian cookies
- Almond Biscotti Recipe
- Italian Tri-Color Cookies
- Best Pizzelle Recipe
- Lemon Pizzelle Recipe
- Italian Sprinkle Cookies
- Hazelnut Biscotti with Chocolate
And if you love Italian desserts, don't miss this tiramisu with zabaglione or this panettone recipe!
Enjoy!
If you try these Italian Pignoli Cookies, please leave a comment and a rating!
Italian Pignoli Cookies
Ingredients
Almond Paste (14 ounces)
- 2 cups almond flour (Measure by spooning into cups or weighing 186 grams.)
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (Measure by spooning into cups or weighing 162 grams.)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg white (Don't use extra-large or jumbo.)
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
Dough
- almond paste from above
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- ¾ cup pine nuts
Optional powdered sugar for serving
Instructions
Make the Almond Paste
- Add the almond flour, 1 ½ cups powdered sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with its blade. Use a spoon to stir the ingredients a bit.
- Pulse the almond flour mixture briefly to combine further. Stop the machine to scrape down the sides with a plastic spatula as needed.
- Separate the egg white from a large egg. (Store the yolk in the refrigerator for another use.) Add the egg white and almond extract to the food processor bowl. Pulse the machine again until the almond paste comes together in a ball.
Make the Dough
- Use a wooden spoon to break up the almond paste into pieces in the food processor. Add the granulated sugar and run the processor until crumbs form.
- Add the two egg whites. Process just until combined.
- Freeze the dough for 20 minutes so it will be easier to roll. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Assemble & Bake
- Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper and have a little bowl of pignoli nuts ready. Roll the chilled dough into 1 ½-inch wide balls. Dip the tops and sides of the balls into the pignoli nuts and place the balls on the prepared pans, spaced a couple of inches apart. You should be able to fit a dozen on each pan.
- If at any point, the dough becomes too soft and sticky to work with, place it back in the freezer for a few minutes, then continue rolling.
- Bake one pan at a time on the center rack of the oven for 15-16 minutes, or until the pignoli cookies are golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies rest for five minutes to set. Then, transfer them with a spatula to a cooling rack. Dust on powdered sugar, if desired.
- Store the cookies at room temperature for up to four days in a sealed plastic container with wax paper separating the layers. You also can freeze the cookies (without powdered sugar dusting) and use them within a month for best quality.
Notes
- You can stir the almond paste ingredients with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl to combine them into a paste.
- When making the dough, break up the paste with the spoon and use a pastry cutter to cut in the sugar until crumbly.
- Add the egg whites and use a hand mixer to combine everything into a dough.
Nutrition
(Recipe Source: Cooking with Mamma C)
Anna says
The cookies were so delicious! Two of us ate them all in just a few days.
Mamma C says
Hi Anna - I'm so glad you enjoyed them!