Pistachio Cookies [gluten free]

Whenever I go on holiday or for a short break, I prefer to go to a different destination each time. There are simply so many wonderful places to visit and there are only so few days of holiday.  But I have some exceptions from this rule and Rome is one of them. I love this city, I could walk there for hours every day and it really doesn’t matter to me that I have already seen some of the places there several times.

While we were wandering around Rome a few years ago, we came across a bakery. It was really small and not fancy at all but the biscuits on the display looked really appetizing and - as we checked later – they tasted divine.  We ended up going there almost every day, we also recommended it to everyone who was going to Rome. Oh, I didn’t mention this was also Julia Robert’s favorite cookie place when she was filming “Eat, Pray, Love” in Rome.

So whenever we went to the Eternal City, this little bakery was a staple point to visit, almost like Fountain di Trevi or the Colosseum.  And then last year we found out it was not there anymore. Supposedly it moved to a different location but we never found it… We have missed all their biscuits so much that I knew I would have to try to recreate at least the favorite one: pistachio cookies. I adapted the below formula from an Italian recipe for almond biscuits. They are probably not the same as the original recipe, but I can assure you they taste wonderfully of pistachios and Rome.  

INGREDIENTS (for approx. 25 cookies):

250g pistachio nuts,

150g icing sugar,

2 egg whites,

extra icing sugar for coating.

METHOD:

1. Process the pistachio nuts in a food processor until you get “pistachio flour”.
2. Add the icing sugar and stir.
3. Whisk the egg whites with the electric mixer till stiff.
4. Gradually add the egg whites into the pistachio and sugar mixture; stir till all ingredients are combined and you end up with a sticky dough.
5. Let the dough rest for 12 hours in a fridge.
6. Preheat an oven to 160 Celsius degrees.
7. Form small balls from the mixture (approx. walnut size), coat them in icing sugar, place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and flatten slightly.
8. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, the cookies shouldn’t get golden so they remain soft inside.

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Marzipan Cookies [gluten free]

I didn’t even plan to bake these biscuits. I wanted to make Italian almond cookies but didn’t read the recipe carefully enough when I came across it some time ago, and didn’t notice the batter had to rest for 12 hours. I simply didn’t have the time as I already had a craving for almond tasting biscuits. So I had no choice, but to find a satisfactory replacement.

In one of my Polish cookbooks* I found a marzipan cookies recipe that met my needs, meaning they could be ready to eat in 30 minutes. I did change it slightly: I used half of the sugar and omitted the chocolate glazing as I felt they would be sweet enough anyway. I was extremely happy with the result: the biscuits were crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. And even though I am still planning to make the real Italian almond cookies, I know, I will make this fast and delicious marzipan variation often, too.

INGREDIENTS (for 25 pieces):

250g marzipan, cut into pieces,

75g sugar,

1 egg white,

0.5 tsp grated lemon rind,

0.5 tsp almond flavoring,

Icing sugar for sprinkling.

METHOD:

1. Put all the ingredients (except from the icing sugar) to a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until everything is well combined.
2. Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees (160 for fan ovens) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
3. Take a walnut size portion of the batter and with wet hands roll into a ball, place on the tray and flatten slightly; repeat with the rest of the batter.
4. Bake the biscuits in the hot oven for 20 minutes; when cooled down, sprinkle with icing sugar.

* "Ciasteczka - wyszukane smakołyki z całego świata"

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Walnut Biscuits (Nusskipferl)

Walnut Biscuits are another example of delicious Austrian cookies. The preparation of the dough is very straightforward, it does take some time though to form the biscuits but only because the below recipe involves making loads of them!

When the dough is prepared, it should rest in the fridge for at least half an hour but it can stay there even overnight, as the dough is much easier to handle when it is cold and hard. Once you take a portion to roll a half-moon, try to do so as fast as you can because the dough gets soft very quickly and then it is difficult to form desired shapes. The biscuits are extremely soft when they are just taken out from the oven but they become harder as they cool down.

Because with this recipe you will make a lot of the Walnut Biscuits and also since after they are baked, they should cool down on the baking trays, the best idea would be to use at least 3 baking trays. That way when the first batch cools down and the second one is in the oven, you can make biscuits for the third tray. If you don’t have so many baking trays, it is not a problem; it will just take a bit longer to bake the cookies.  Using the best vanilla sugar available to coat them in, assures getting an almost heavenly experience - soft biscuits that melt in your mouth.

INGREDIENTS:

220g ground walnuts,

220g plain flour (plus extra for dusting),

110g caster sugar,

220g soft butter,

2 egg yolks.

icing sugar mixed with vanilla sugar for coating baked biscuits.

METHOD:

1. In a food processor mix walnuts, flour and sugar.
2. Add diced butter and whiz everything together; add the egg yolks, whiz again till all is combined.
3. Transfer onto a plate dusted with flour, cover with cling film; leave it in a fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees (or 160 for fan oven); put baking paper into baking trays.
5. Form biscuits: take a heaped teaspoon of the dough and roll it in a palm of your hand into a half-moon (approx. 3-4 cm diameter).
6. Put biscuits on a baking tray, leave some space around them, bake for 10-12 minutes.
7. Leave the baked biscuits on the tray till cool; coat them in icing and vanilla sugar.

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Hedi's Almond Biscuits

I come from a family where there had to be (many) cakes for each celebration and at least one every Sunday. Of course we also ate biscuits but generally these were the bought ones. This changed when I was introduced to my husband’s Austrian godmother – Hedi - and her biscuits. Before Christmas she is always busy preparing a selection of treats so when you open a tin that comes from her, it is as you were opening a box of chocolates: there are so many types of biscuits, each looking better than the other one that you really don’t know which one to choose.

The Almond Biscuits are one of our favourites: buttery, soft, melting in your mouth. Hedi usually uses apricot jam but I have made them with strawberry and raspberry jam and they tasted equally good.

INGREDIENTS (for approx. 20 biscuits):

260g all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)

180g icing sugar,

160g butter,

80g ground almonds,

2 egg yolks,

a few tbsps of apricot/strawberry/raspberry jam,

Icing sugar for dusting.

METHOD:

1. In a food processor whizz together the flour, sugar, almonds and butter till they resemble fine crumbs.
2. Add the egg yolks and process until all is combined.
3. Form a ball, cover it in cling film and let it rest in a fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Preheat an oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
5. Roll out the dough pretty thinly (approx. 5 mm) on a floured surface, cut out 5-6 cm diameter circles and in half of the biscuits cut out a small circle in the middle.
6. Transfer the biscuits onto the baking tray covered with baking paper leaving some space between them (they will not rise a lot). The dough is not very elastic so be careful when you transfer the cut out biscuits as they may break.
7. Bake the biscuits for approx. 15 minutes until golden; let them cool down on a baking tray.
8. When cold, spread some jam on a whole biscuit, cover it with a biscuit with a hole in the middle, sprinkle with icing sugar.

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