Cookie Swap with McCormick and Monet!
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Today, I’m teaming up with McCormick and one of my favorite bloggers, Monet from Anecdotes and Apple Cores, to share with you two very special cookie recipes! First up are her delectable Pignoli Cookies, and I’ve also shared some spicy, sweet Gingerbread Whoopie Pies, which you can check out on her blog.
So, give her a warm welcome and get drooling over these good lookin’ pignolis. Take it away, girl!
Can you believe it’s already December? I’m so honored to be guest posting for The Comfort of Cooking. I’ve been a big fan of Georgia’s blog, and I’ve been lucky enough to live in the same city as her for the past year! Because December is all about friends, family, and good food, we thought a cookie-swap would be the perfect start to this month.
We’re partnering with McCormick to bring you two original cookie recipes using some of our most favorite baking products. Spices like nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon are must-haves when it comes to holiday baking. Not only do they make house smell like Christmas, but they impart that wonderful spicy kick we’ve all come to love in our holiday cookies.
For my cookie recipe, I took a traditional Italian treat and added some Anecdotes and Apple Core flair. The pignoli is an almond flavored cookie that is accented by toasted pine nuts. Most recipes leave spices out of the mixture, but I found that a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger takes these classic pignolis to a new level of delicious.
These are perfect additions to a holiday tray of cookies or as gifts for teachers and friends. While little ones may not be able to help you during the baking process, they can certainly aid in what my niece likes to call, “Sugar time!” Open a bag of powdered sugar and let your children have fun sprinkling the cooled cookies with a little bit of “snow.”
Thanks for reading along. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we did. I can’t wait to make another batch!
To see more of Monet and my Gingerbread Whoopie Pies in a scrumptious guest post, head on over to her blog! Scroll through an amazing assortment of baked goodies, ogle over her pretty pictures, and take a peek at personal stories of her day-to-day life, which she loves to share.
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SaveMonet's Pignoli Cookies & My Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
Yield: Both recipes make about 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
Monet’s Pignoli Cookies
1 (8 oz) Can Almond Paste
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon McCormick Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Ground Ginger
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Ground Nutmeg
2 Medium Egg Whites, Lightly Beaten
4 Ounces Pine Nuts
4 Ounces Almonds
Extra Powdered Sugar To Finish
My Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick Ground Ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Ground Nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup buttermilk
Filling
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2-3 cups powdered confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
Directions:
Monet’s Pignoli Cookies
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine pine nuts and almonds. Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse the almond paste into small pieces. Add flour, sugars, and spices. Process until finely ground.
Add in egg whites and process until dough forms. Using a cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, place rounded pieces of dough on prepared cookie sheets. 2 inches apart. Sprinkle each cookie with the almond and pine nut mixture.
Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly golden. Allow to cool completely before dusting lightly (or not so lightly) with powdered sugar.
My Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, scraping down sides of bowl after. With mixer on low, add molasses and buttermilk. Add flour and mix only until blended; do not over-mix.
Using a small scoop or teaspoon, portion batter onto the baking sheets, spacing each about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
To make the filling: With a mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat for 1 more minute, until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
Make sure cookies are cooled completely then pair cookies by size. Transfer filling to a piping bag. Onto the flat side of one of each cookie pair, pipe a bit of frosting. Sandwich the cookies together.
Enjoy!
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Welcome to The Comfort of Cooking. Simple, scrumptious comfort food recipes with a twist is what you’ll find here, some indulgent and some light, but always fresh and frugal. Thanks for visiting! (
Those Pignoli Cookies look delicious– thanks for guest posting Monet!
I’m with your nieces! The sugar snow totally takes these cookies to another level :)
I’m such a cookie girl, these both look great!
You can never go wrong with cookies – both of them sound wonderful!
The Pignoli cookies are new to me and I love that you added all the spices and the sugar snow.
Gingerbread whoopie pies look and sound delicious.
Good job Monet, these cookies look srumptious.
So nice to read your blog, take care.
Holiday cookies always need a little “snow” on top! Thank you for sharing this recipe, Monet!
Another amazing looking cookie from Monet, looks just so irresistible!
These are such pretty cookies, and I love the spices you’ve added! Great way to make them even better.
I love pignoli cookies, but I think you’ve made them even better by adding spices – definitely an Anecdotes and Applecores flair! Great recipe, Monet!
Georgia: I saw your guest post on Monet´s lovely blog and I headed over here to take a look at your blog, it is quite wonderful and I also really enjoyed looking at and reading through your “Gingerbread Whoopie Pies” post and recipe!
Monet: what a very lovely recipe, I love the idea of including delicious pine nuts in your cookies.
Hope you are all going to have a wonderful weekend!
I love whoopie pies! I bet gingerbread ones are amazing, especially this time of year :)
My kids will love the “sugar time” too but I’m most likely terrified of their sugar time as kitchen could be disaster! xD Monet, your cookies look so lovely! I love the almond and pine nuts on top. Very cute!
Georgia, I saw your delicious and cute whoopie pies! :)