Boston Italian cookies

[Popcorn]

So it looks like I'm responsible for christmas cookie baking for the office. One of our members is a displaced bostonian who keeps talking about the "italian cookies" she used to get at various and sundry bakeries in Boston. She couldn't get more specific other than to say that they weren't biscotti, and some of them had pine nuts in them.

I've checked around a couple of my cookbooks but to no avail, anyone have suggestions as to what types of cookies she might be talking about, and a recipe resource (if possible)?

thanks

ben

[albiston]

So it looks like I'm responsible for christmas cookie baking for the office.  One of our members is a displaced bostonian who keeps talking about the "italian cookies" she used to get at various and sundry bakeries in Boston.  She couldn't get more specific other than to say that they weren't biscotti, and some of them had pine nuts in them.

I've checked around a couple of my cookbooks but to no avail, anyone have suggestions as to what types of cookies she might be talking about, and a recipe resource (if possible)?

thanks

ben

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the first cookies that come to mind with pinoli are pinolate, made with plenty of egg whites.

I think there's a recipe for these in Carol Field's "The Italian Baker". Other related cookies are brutti ma buoni also made with plenty of egg whites and nuts. There's a good recipe from Mario Batali on the Food Network's site, here.

On the other hand I'm not sure that's what you're looking for.

[slbunge]

The ones with pine nuts at Maria's Bakery in the North End of boston are refered to as 'Amaretti' and are sort of like a macaroon.

A few other of the cookies that that fall into the 'not biscotti' category but are in normal supply at Maria's are as follows:

-Totos: a small chocolate/allspice/fig cookie that is a mini version of the Christmas specialty Mustaccioli

-Umberti: a sort of soft vanilla biscuit

-Regina: a little tea biscuit covered entirely with sesame seeds

-standard 'butter cookies': at Maria's as at all the North End bakeries, these are factory made with vegetable shortening but still very popular

All of these names are from a sort of cribsheet I have from Maria's and I'm not sure how true these names are to the names of real cookies baked by real Italians. And, sorry, but I intend to buy my Italian cookies there so I don't have recipes. Hopefully the names help.

[ludja]

Here's a useful cookbook you may be able to get out of the library: Nick Malgieri's "Great Italian Desserts".

One of the classic Italian cookies (non biscotti) sold in the North End is the Amaretti (Italian Macaroons) mentioned above, these, of course, are with almonds, not coconut. They can be plain, or "ai Pignoli"--studded w/pignoli nuts on the outside).

There are lots of other nice cookie recipes in this book...

edited to add: you should be able to find recipes for the amaretti w/ and w/o pinenuts on the net. The ingredients are: almond paste, egg whites, and sugar,

Edited December 10, 2004 by ludja (log)

[Fernwood]

I live in another heavily Italian-American community in New England and the assorted Italian bakery cookies are ubiquitous at Christmastime. However, the only type among them that I have encountered as homemade is the chewy amaretti rolled in pine nuts, "pignoli cookies". I would also say that those are generally the tastiest ones in the bakery assortments, anyway. Most of the others are based on a fairly plain dough piped in various shapes, then some dipped in chocolate, some sandwiched with jam, some with sprinkles, etc., etc. From a good bakery they are quite nice, though the mass market versions, presumably made with pure vegetable shortening, are pretty tasteless to me. I think the pignoli cookies are easy enough to make (though the nuts are not cheap!), so I would try those and don't worry about the rest.

Good luck, Fern

[ludja]

I live in another heavily Italian-American community in New England and the assorted Italian bakery cookies are ubiquitous at Christmastime.  However, the only type among them that I have encountered as homemade is the chewy amaretti rolled in pine nuts, "pignoli cookies".  I would also say that those are generally the tastiest ones in the bakery assortments, anyway.  Most of the others are based on a fairly plain dough piped in various shapes, then some dipped in chocolate, some sandwiched with jam, some with sprinkles, etc., etc.  From a good bakery they are quite nice, though the mass market versions, presumably made with pure vegetable shortening, are pretty tasteless to me.  I think the pignoli cookies are easy enough to make (though the nuts are not cheap!), so I would try those and don't worry about the rest. 

Good luck,  Fern

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spot on response Fernwood... I was trying to remember if some of the bakeries had other memorable cookies--but I think in many cases it is as you say. Not that there aren't other good Italian cookies, but lots of bakeries tend to have just what you describe--good amaretti and pignoli and then a bunch of other rather drab-usually vegetable shortening-- cookies!

Edited December 10, 2004 by ludja (log)

[tryska]

I live in another heavily Italian-American community in New England and the assorted Italian bakery cookies are ubiquitous at Christmastime.  However, the only type among them that I have encountered as homemade is the chewy amaretti rolled in pine nuts, "pignoli cookies".  I would also say that those are generally the tastiest ones in the bakery assortments, anyway.  Most of the others are based on a fairly plain dough piped in various shapes, then some dipped in chocolate, some sandwiched with jam, some with sprinkles, etc., etc.  From a good bakery they are quite nice, though the mass market versions, presumably made with pure vegetable shortening, are pretty tasteless to me.  I think the pignoli cookies are easy enough to make (though the nuts are not cheap!), so I would try those and don't worry about the rest. 

Good luck,  Fern

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you might be able to help me - what's the name for the ones that are rainbow colored - red, green and yellow layered with jam, dipped in chocolate? they look like petit fours minus the coating on 2 sides?

and also, this one i only had down on long island - it was rectangular, also covered in chocolate, but when you bit into it, it wa ssort of soft, and to me was reminiscent of chocolate and banana in flavor?

[Popcorn]

Thanks everybody, amaretti looks like the answer. How about a cookie (similar pedigree) with pistachios/a pistachio flavor?

I'm going out to the library to check out the Malgieri book this weekend.

ben

[ludja]

Thanks everybody, amaretti looks like the answer.  How about a cookie (similar pedigree) with pistachios/a pistachio flavor?

I'm going out to the library to check out the Malgieri book this weekend.

ben

←

Malgieri has a recipe for a pistachio confection--kind of like a brittle that you bake in little rounds... (no flour in it). I don't have any pistachio cookie recipes per se in any of my Italian cookbooks (not even in a Sicilian one) but pistachio biscotti are very nice...

Two other Italian dessert cookbooks that have some nice cookie recipes in them (not necessarily, "Boston" italian) and that you may find at the library are:

Patisserie of Italy by Jeni Wright

&

La Dolce Vita by Michele Scicolone