Panellets Pine Nut Cookies Recipes

PANELLETS (CATALAN ALL-SAINTS COOKIES)

Steps:

• Place the potatoes in a small saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender; drain. Mash the potatoes with a fork. Allow to cool.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly butter a baking sheet.
• Combine the cooled potatoes and almonds. Slowly add the sugar while stirring with a wooden spoon. Stir in the lemon zest; continue mixing with your hands. Form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the pine nuts; brush with egg yolk. Form each ball into a crescent shape. Cover each cookie with cornstarch and then brush with egg white. Arrange cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until lightly golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

PANELLETS - CATALAN POTATO COOKIES

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. When done, you can stab them with a fork, and they will fall off easily. Drain, cool slightly, and peel.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place 1 cup of almonds into a food processor, and grind to a fine powder. Add sugar to almonds, and process to mix. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add potatoes to the almond mixture, and mash together until it becomes a very thick paste. Roll into 1 inch balls, and roll the balls in chopped almonds. Place cookies on a baking sheet, and brush with egg white.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are brown. Gently remove from the baking sheets, and cool on a plate in the refrigerator. Serve cold. They are supposed to be squishy when you eat them.

PANELLETS (PINE NUT COOKIES)

Steps:

• To blanche the almonds: Add the almonds to boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse them in cold water. You should be able to easily remove the almonds from thier skins. Filling: In a food processor, mix the nuts amd 1 tsp of flour (you may been more flour if using the pine nuts) until it reaches a consisteny of fine bread crumbs (pine nuts might look like chunky PB beacuse of all the oil in them). Add the nut paste to a mixing bowl, and all the sugar and lemon zest. Add the egg slowly, blending well. (if using pine nuts, you should eyeball it with the egg, you might only need 1/2 to make the paste. If the paste is too wet, add a little bit more flour). Knead it all till its an even, pliable dough. Outter Cookie: In a lare bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg, almond and vanilla extracts, and blend well. In a separate bowl, sift and conbine the flour and salt, and then slowly mix the flour into the butter mixture. When a dough is formed, wrap it in saran wrap and refridgerate for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the "outer" dough out till about 1/4 in thick. Cut with a round cookie cutter. Take these little cookies and spoon a small amout of the nut paste in the center. Bring the sides of the outer cookie up and around the paste, to completely envelop it, and roll the cookies in the palm of your hands to make a ball. Roll the top 1/2 of the cookie around in the pine nuts, and push them into the dough. Bake the cookies on a cookie sheet. Bake about 15 minutes, the bottom edges of the cookie and nuts will turn slightly golden. Do not brown. Remove and cool. Dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy!