Sicilian Pistachio Cookies

Recipe:

Ingredient Notes:

• Nuts. In this recipe, I’m making pistachio and almond cookies. The nuts are raw, not roasted. Almonds can be used with the skins on. Alternatively, you can replace the pistachios with hazelnuts or make the cookies completely almond. In the latter case, you will have Sicilian amaretti. If you have ready-made almond flour, you can use it instead of almonds.
• Sugar. You need regular white sugar, not too coarse. I do not recommend reducing its amount – it directly affects the texture of the cookies and the consistency of the dough. Yes, the cookies turn out noticeably sweet, but that’s its specific characteristic.
• Egg whites. The temperature of the egg whites is not important in this case. I highly recommend to measure the whites using a scale, as it is easy to be mistaken when measuring them by pieces. But if you have no options, remember that the white of an average egg of the M size weighs about 30 grams.

Let’s start cooking.

Place the nuts in the food processor.

Grind them as finely as possible. It is important to grind in pulses of 5-7 seconds, otherwise the blades will get hot and the nuts will release fat. We don’t need that.

Add the sugar, salt and egg whites to the ground nuts.

Stir until smooth.

Form small balls and roll in powdered sugar on all sides.

Place on a baking sheet and press down a little to flatten them. Do not flatten too much, as the cookies will expand during baking.

Alternatively, you can not flatten them at all and leave them as balls. The cookies will be softer in the center, but will take a few minutes longer to bake.

Place the baking sheet in a preheated oven at 180°C (355°F) and bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to turn golden around the edges.

Immediately remove the cookies from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!