GardenCuizine: Italian Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Monday, April 6, 2026

Italian Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Amaretti con Pignoli for Easter or Christmas

Gluten-free - Salt-free

Italian pignoli (pinoli) cookies are enjoyed at Christmas and Easter time. They can be made anytime of year and make wonderful homemade gifts. Pignoli cookies are quick and easy to bake. The cookies feature pignoli nuts, which are nutritious and also known as pine nuts.

Pine nut Nutrition: 3 Tablespoons contain: 0g trans fat, 10g polyunsaturated fat, 5g monounsaturated fat, 1g dietary fiber, 4g protein, 1.5 mg (8% DV) iron, 170 mg (4% DV) potassium, and several other micro-nutrients including zinc and manganese.

For this recipe, I first looked online since these cookies are a very popular Italian cookie and baked by millions of people around the world. My mother never mentioned her mother or grandmother making these cookies. Mom's family was from Sicily; these cookies originated there. My first online choice for the recipe inspiration came from a beloved and excellent Italian chef, Chef Lidia Bastianich.

Celebrity Chefs

At a high profile press dinner at The Supper Club in Manhattan, New York back in 2003, is where I met several celebrity chefs including, Chef Lidia. The show was designed to highlight 11 restaurants slated to open at the new Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. I was still in culinary school and will forever remember briefly meeting and greeting Chef Lidia in person. Looking back, my cell phone didn't have a camera on it to capture the visit.

I was especially honored to be among the few students selected by the Academy of Culinary Arts to represent them. We traveled by limo to the "Borgata, the Event" in New York. It was so exciting to be among so many great chefs like Lidia, Bobby Flay, Susanna Foo, Aaron Sanchez and Wolfgang Puck. I remember bringing my culinary tool box with me and presenting on stage there as the chefs of the future.

Gluten-free Pignoli Cookie Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F
Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment or foil. Apply light non-stick spray

Yield will vary depending on your scoop size, your mixing technique, type of sugar used and the amount of egg whites used. Lidia does not use confectioners sugar, but I decided to use it to make the cookies have less spread. I probably over mixed my first batch. Over mixing warms the almond paste dough and the cookies will spread more.

Sticky dough Yields: 28, 3-inch cookies
Firmer dough Yields: 3 dozen 2-inch cookies

Ingredients

1 lb (454g) container almond paste (I used California Almonds: Mandelin Premium Almond Paste)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
3 large egg whites, room temperature
8 oz (227g) pignoli nuts in a pie plate or large dish (you will have some leftover)

Putting it all together

Add the almond paste to your food processor or mixer. If you squeeze around the sides of the container, the paste will easily drop out; no need to scoop it out. I used our KitchenAid and used the whisk; pulse to break up the almond paste. It is sort of like play dough; you may need to stop the mixer and push the dough back in if it starts to work its way to the top.
Gradually add in both sugars, mix and pulse off and on until well blended. At first it will look like clumps of candied ginger. Mix until it looks more like coarse sand.
Add the egg whites. Mix until well blended and smooth.
If the dough is too sticky to hold, it can be refrigerated to slightly firm.

If your dough is too sticky to hold, use a small scoop, spoon dough onto baking sheet; Top with pignoli nuts; gently spread them around on each cookie.
If your dough is firm enough to hold, pinch off some and form into small 1" ball and roll in pine nuts leaving a spot for the bottom without nuts; place onto baking sheet.
For Easter cookies, sprinkle colorful decorator sugar atop the pine nuts - optional.