Pinolate (Ligurian Pine Nut Cookies)

Pinolate are simple Ligurian pine nut cookies with a wonderfully chewy soft centre, a crisp outer and delicious nutty flavour. Also called pignoli or amaretti con pignoli, they’re traditionally made with a mix of bitter and sweet almonds. As bitter almonds can be hard to find, I use marzipan mixed with some ground and slivered almonds for texture. Pinolate soften a little when stored, so are best eaten within 24 hours of baking, ideally with a glass of Williams & Humbert Dos Cortados Palo Cortado Sherry. See video below for another Ligurian sweet treat.

Makes 12–15

Ingredients

200g marzipan, chopped
50g slivered almonds
50g castor sugar
100g ground almond
2 egg whites
45g pine nuts
Icing sugar, for sprinkling

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Place marzipan, slivered almonds, sugar and half the ground almond in a small food processor and blitz to combine.
Add egg whites and blitz to form a soft dough.
Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ground almond.
Spread pine nuts on a small plate.
With moistened hands, roll walnut-sized pieces of the dough into balls.
Flatten them slightly and press the top into the pine nuts; place on a baking paper-lined oven tray, nut side up.
Bake for 10–15 minutes, until firm and lightly coloured.
Set pinolate aside to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.