Cooking School near Lucca: Pignoli Cookies and homemade almond paste

A Cooking School near Lucca: this is my bet!

Certainly, I have not chosen the most suitable period (covid, criticisms). Anyway, the enthusiasm I have in running Cooking Classes in Tuscany for foreigners in Italy continues to give me the “power”.

In addition to my job as an Itinerant Chef, I needed a permanent place, a brick’n mortar place.

And this is how Dolce Vita B&B and Cooking was born. Because of the lockdown, I exploited the spaces by building a real video studio and photographic set; I got busy with Facebook FREE live streamings and in this school, I also run online cooking classes.

I am facing the construction of an original recipe in all its expressions: writing (SEE THE RECIPE BELOW), video (RIGHT DOWN HERE), photography, and socials.

So in this post, you have all these possibilities.

Among the requested recipes could not miss the “pignoli cookies”.

PIGNOLI COOKIES THE FREE FACEBOOK LIVE STREAMING

I replicated these typically Tuscan biscuits directly from my grandmother’s recipe.

They’re so expensive in the United States (they told me you pay about 40 dollars per kg!). But hey can also be very affordable according to my recipe; you don’t even need to buy almond paste, you can make it without problems and very quickly.

You absolutely have to try this recipe that is not only easy and fast but I assure you it is really delicious and that is why it is still a great success among my customers and students in Tuscany.

If you try it let me know.

If you don’t want to use cupcake liners you can try making these as regular cookies.

Just make the ball a little bigger than I did and you will see that you will have excellent regular biscuits.

Buon appetito to everyone and see you for the next recipe!

PIGNOLI COOKIES RECIPE

BY ERIKA ELIA (WWW.COOKINGCLASSESINTUSCANY.NET)

INGREDIENTS:

3,6 oz (100 gr) confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp honey

3,6 oz (100 gr) peeled almonds

3,6 oz (100gr) pine nuts

1 egg white

TOOLS: mini cupcake liners https://amzn.to/3g8YkDb mini muffin tin (optional) https://amzn.to/3gbNaO3

METHOD:

For the ALMOND PASTE: blend the almonds in the blender; you’ll get a fine flour.
Mix the icing sugar with honey, almond flour, and egg white. As you get a dough, give it the shape of a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. You can put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until the next day.
Preheat the oven at 360 °F (180 °C)
Remove the dough from the fridge. Take 1 teaspoon of dough at a time and make a ball rolling the dough by hands.
Pass the balls in the pine nuts, pressing them well with your hands to make them well combined.
Arrange the pignoli cookies on a baking sheet OR a Muffin tray, inside small cupcake liners.
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until they are lightly browned.
Let them cool completely.