Bake This Now: 3 Must-Have Holiday Cookie Recipes

By Jenn Garbee Fri., Dec. 7 2012 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Baking, Cookbooks, Cookies

Continued from page 1

Annie Schlechter /The Little Bookroom

Pinolate Cookies

Why: Because every time we pull out this great, tiny little Biscotti book filled with 'basic' Italian cookie recipes, we find something we want to make. Like these delicate little pine nut cookies.

Baker's Bonus: These cookies will stay fresh for a week, but are best eaten the day they're made. Go ahead, have another.

Pinolate (Pine Nut Cookies)
From: Biscotti: Recipes from the Kitchen of The American Academy in Rome (Mona Talbott and Mirella Misenti)
Makes: 20 cookies

200g / 7 ounces pine nuts
85g / 3 ounces blanched almonds
85g / ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg white, lightly beaten

1.Preheat the oven to 300 F.

2. Spread the pine nuts evenly on a baking sheet and toast them for about 10 minutes, or until they are lightly golden. Let them to cool before using.

3. Pulse the almonds with the granulated sugar and 50g (1/3 cup) of the pine nuts in a food processor to create a fine, sandy texture. Transfer the mixture to a medium-size mixing bowl. Add the lemon zest, vanilla and egg white and mix well. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Form the dough into cherry-size balls (10 g/ 1/3 ounce) and roll each ball in the remainder of the toasted pine nuts, pressing them gently into the dough. To bake, adjust or preheat the oven to 325 F.

5. Evenly space the biscuits on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, leaving 2cm ( 1 ½ inches) between each cookie. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until golden-brown. These cookies are best eaten fresh, but will keep for up to 1 week in a sealed container.

Turn the page for Alice Medrich's chocolate-laced tuille cookies.