Pinolate

By patticakes

These were a favorite bakery cookie of my childhood. I attribute 10 of my extra pounds to these because you can’t each just one. I made them for the first time in 20+ years and what a surprise! They have become a favorite overnight.

Ingredients

• 14 ounces almond paste (2 packages)
• 3 to 4 egg whites
• 1 cup whole hazelnuts, toasted, blanched and ground
• 1 cup whole blanched almonds, ground
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 TBS butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups pine nuts
• 2 TBS confectioners sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Break up almond paste, put in a large bowl with 1 egg white and combine to a smooth paste. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine ground nuts, sugar, butter, honey, and two egg whites. Combine to form a stiff paste. If necessary, use the remaining egg white to to make the paste, adding half at a time to make sure it’s not too soft. Blend with the almond past mixture into a smooth mass.
Pour the pine nuts onto a plate. Roll the paste into walnut sized balls and coat with pine nuts. Place them on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Let sit overnight at room temperature.
Heat oven to 375. Sift confectioners sugar over each ball. Bake until the pine nuts are light golden, about 15 minutes.
Cool on racks.
To serve, sift a little more confectioners sugar over the cookies.