Recipe(tried): Pinolate (Chewy Nut Cookies with Pine Nuts)

Melina, here is a recipe from The Italian Baker by Carol Field I think you will love.

PINOLATE (CHEWY NUT COOKIES COVERED WITH PINE NUTS)

"Why Pinolate? Because these fat balls of chewy hazelnut cookies are studded with pignoli, the famous pine nuts of Italy, which make the cookie look a bit like a porcupine at rest."

FIRST PASTE:
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (100 grams) blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
3 or 4 egg whites

Grind the almonds to a fine powder in a nut grinder or food processor fitted with a steel blade. (If using processor, add 2 tablespoons of the sugar.) Mix the nuts and the sugar in a mixing bowl. Add 3 egg whites and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky ball, adding the last egg white, a bit at a time, if needed. If using the food processor, add the remaining sugar and process to mix. Add the egg whites to the nut mixture and process to mix.

SECOND PASTE:
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (100 grams) skinned toasted hazelnuts
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (100 grams) raw almonds
About 1 3/4 cups (350 grams) sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (45 grams), room temperature
1 teaspoon honey
3 or 4 egg whites

Grind the hazelnuts and almonds to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle, a nut grinder or food processor fitted with the steel blade. (If using a food processor, add 2 tablespoons of sugar.) Mix the nuts and sugar in a mixing bowl, or add the remaining sugar to the food processor and process to mix. Add the butter, honey and 3 egg whites and mix until the dough comes together in a paste, adding the last egg white, a bit at a time, if needed. If using the processor, add the butter, honey, and egg whites and process until the dough comes together in a paste.

Stir both pastes together with a wooden spoon until well blended. The dough should be stiff.

COATING:
6 1/2 ounces (195 grams) pine nuts
Confectioners' sugar

Spread the pine nuts on a large flat platter. Roll a bit of the dough between the palms of your hands to form a ball the size of a walnut and then roll in the pine nuts until completely covered. Repeat with the remaining dough and pine nuts. Place the balls 1 1/2 inches apart on buttered or parchment-lined baking sheets and flatten slightly. Let stand, uncovered, overnight at room temperature.

BAKING:
Heat the oven to 400 Degrees F.

Sift confectioner's sugar over the dough balls.

Bake until the pine nuts are light golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on racks.

Makes about 50 cookies
Source: The Italian Baker by Carol Field