these cookies were inspired by an especially yummy chocolate bar i once had. they’d be REALLY good with chocolate chips (or chopped up dark chocolate ritter sport, my choco of choice) but it was 10pm when i made these and i didn’t have any. these really did the trick though, and they’re especially good fresh out of the oven.
my first attempt at pignioli cookies was a miserable failure and i have not touched almond paste since, but once i made almond milk i needed something to do with the pulp-turned-almond meal. these cookies are basically an almond flavored sugar cookie covered in icing and pine nuts.. not really a pignioli cookie, but who cares? they’re crunchy and chewy at the same time and i think they’re pretty freaking tasty.
anise is a flavor my family has always reserved for what we call “wedding cookies,” but what are actually called italian knot cookies or anginetti (traditionally made with lemon). i never even thought to put anise in anything else until a few years ago when i found my go-to sugar cookie recipe on vegweb. i used anise instead of the other suggested flavors because sugar cookies are way easier to make than the knots (our recipe makes a shitload and they take FOREVER to roll out, knot, ice and sprinkle). did any of that make sense? meh, i don’t care.
more valentine’s day cookies, ugh
my mom used to make these. i’m not sure why she stopped, because they’re pretty much everyone’s favorite (even those who don’t really eat dessert). they’re also called mexican wedding cookies and russian tea cakes, but that’s not how i’ve known them. they were always crescent-shaped, not round, and i always just assumed they were italian because the (un-veganized) recipe came from my aunt. who knows. anyway, they’re the best, and in the photos they’re pink because i made them for valentine’s day, barf.
THE SNAGGLEST TOOTH 