Pine Nut Cookies: the recipe for typical Italian biscuits

Pine nut cookies are a typical specialty of Umbrian pastry, in Italy. These are small sweet discs, crunchy on the outside and tender to the heart, made with a mixture of whipped egg whites, flour and granulated sugar, enriched with pine nuts and finally flavored with ground cinnamon and lemon zest. Greedy and very easy to prepare, pine nut cookies are perfect to be served at tea time, along with the classic butter biscuits, or at the end of a meal on the occasion of a Sunday family lunch. So let’s find out how to prepare some perfect pine nut cookies by following our recipe step by step.

How to make Pine Nut Cookies

Collect the flour and granulated sugar in a bowl, then add the ground cinnamon (1).

Flavor with the grated lemon zest (2) and mix well.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks (3).

Once well whipped, stir in the egg whites, mixing gently and with movements from the bottom up (4). Finally add 100 grams of pine nuts.

Using an ice cream portioner, distribute many piles on a baking sheet lined with a sheet of parchment paper (5).

Sprinkle the surface of the biscuits with the remaining pine nuts (6) and bake at 180 degrees C for about 12 minutes.

As soon as they are slightly golden, take the pine nut cookies out of the oven and let them cool. Finally transfer them to a tray and serve (7).

How to store Pine Nut Cookies

Pine nut cookies can be stored in a tin box for at least 1-2 weeks. Freezing is not recommended.