Pine Nut and Almond Cookies (Piñones) (Spain, Navarra)

[Marina Chang]

Pine Nut and Almond Cookies (Piñones) (Spain, Navarra)

Serves 40.

Recipe from Tastes of the Pyrenees, Classic and Modern by Marina Chang (Hippocrene Books, February 2003. $24.95 hardcover). Thanks to the author and publishers for sharing this with us.

Across Spain, nuts are a popular ingredient in baked goods, a legacy left by the Moors. The richly flavored small white pine nuts used in Pyrenean cooking come from the umbrella pine (Pinus pinea), also called the stone pine. Called piñones in Spain and pignons in France, they are especially common in Catalan cookery. Pine nuts were introduced throughout the Mediterranean from Spain. Humans have cultivated this tree for its protein-rich food for well over 6,000 years, and it is still extensively cultivated throughout the Mediterranean. Ethno-botanists believe that before humans expanded the range of this tree over the last few thousand years, it was confined to the Iberian Peninsula, since this is the only area where pine nuts are found away from ancient trade routes. Pine nuts should be stored in plastic zipper-top bags in freezers.

In Catalonia, as in southern Spain, pine nut-covered cookies and cakes are routinely displayed in bakery windows as one of their many holidays approaches. My favorite are the rich pine nut filled and exterior studded cookies from Zucitola Patiserías, a modest bakery on the Paseo Pablo Savaste in Pamplona. In an effort to re-create this Spanish treat, I developed the following recipe. These cookies with nut paste centers are very close to the real thing. To allow most of us to make these cookies without tapping into our life savings, I recommend making these with an almond filling in place of pine nuts. I also found that most of my tasters preferred the almond filling to the richer pine nut filling. However, my husband prefers the pine nut centers

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Nut Filling:

• 1 c almonds, blanched and lightly toasted or 1 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
  
• 1 tsp flour
  
• 1/2 c sugar
  
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  

Outer Cookie Dough:

• 2 c flour
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 c butter, softened
  
• 1 c sugar
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 c raw pine nuts
  

For Nut Paste Filling:

Place nuts in a food processor with 1 teaspoon flour (2 teaspoons if using pine nuts) and mix until the consistency of sand. Pine nuts may become the consistency of coarse peanut butter due to high oil content. Place ground nuts in a bowl and mix in sugar and lemon zest. Add egg, a little at a time, blending and kneading it into the paste. If using pine nuts, you may only need to add 1/2 the egg to moisten to a pliable, slightly viscous paste. If the paste is too wet, knead in a little more sugar. Knead paste to an even consistency.

For Dough:

Combine flour and salt. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. When well mixed, add egg, almond and vanilla extracts, beating until well combined. Gradually mix flour into buttery mixture. When dough is formed, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 1/2 to 1 hour.

For Assembly:

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Using a teaspoon, spoon out a chunk of dough and quickly roll it into a ball and press to slightly flatten. Spoon a small amount of nut paste into the center of the dough and wrap the sides of the dough around the nut filling to completely envelope it. To reshape any imperfections, quickly roll it into a ball between your palms. Roll top half of cookie in pine nuts, and press them into the dough before placing on cookie sheet.

If dough becomes too soft to work with, place in refrigerator for 10 minutes or until it stiffens up again.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes. Pine nuts and bottom edges of cookie may turn slightly golden, but cookies should not brown. Remove and let cool.

Blanche the almonds by placing them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Their skins will bubble and loosen. Rinse them in cold water and drain. Squirt each almond out of its skin.

To toast almonds or pine nuts, place them in a dry pan over medium heat, tossing and stirring the nuts until lightly tanned.

Keywords: Spanish/Portugese, Cookie

( RG348 )