Italian Nut Cookies
 

Italian Nut Cookies

submitted by and thanks to Francesco Petrillo

2 cups of whole almonds
1/2 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup of sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 cup amaretto liquor
1 cup (or so) of flour

If the nuts are "raw", you may want to toast them for a few minutes in
the oven. Place nuts and sugar into food processor and chop until all
nuts are well chopped. You don't want almond powder, but no huge hunks
of almonds, somewhere in between.

Place minced nuts into a bowl and stir in egg whites, liquor, and
flour. Mix well. Add more or less flour as needed. The batter/dough
should still be somewhat moist, but not too wet.

Form cookies into any shape you want. Balls, logs, etc. Use spoons or
wet your hands frequently.

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes until cookies begin to brown.

They should last cooked for several days in a zip top bag.

Now for some variations:
You may add several types of nuts to the mixture. I sometimes use
roasted hazelnuts, chestnuts, etc. You may use chestnut flour to get a
nuttier taste. You may omit the liquor and use almond extract. As long
as the batter is somewhat moist and pasty, add as many types of nuts
as you like (pistachios). Just add an extra egg white/spoonful of
flour as needed.

Side note. Since there are no egg yolks in these, the nuts actually
contain good cholesterol and may help lower bad cholesterol.