These Italian Pine Nut Cookies are soft in the center and crispy on the outside cookies are a classic Italian treat found in traditional bakeries all over Italy. These sweet morsels originate from Sicily and sing with the flavors of sweet almond paste and nutty pignoli (pine nuts in Italian).

A version of these cookies was first featured in my Chronicle Books 2009 book I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas. They were super tasty but full of gluten and sugar. Here in the Amalgam Kitchen, we decided to turn the recipe on it’s head and make them not only Paleo but almond free, I explained in my last post, I recently became aware I am allergic to almonds. We developed this new version with my ultimate grain-free baker’s blend and added some dried cranberries and boy, am I telling you, we have a winner here. It’s half way between a short bread and a chewy cookie and packed with sweetness from the cranberries and crunch from the walnuts with a distinct maple over tone. This cookie is a must add to your holiday baking and dare I say it should stick around until winter’s end, guilt free.

I have always loved the crumbly and buttery shortbread-like texture of a Mexican wedding cookie, the melty and soft sensation of the powdered confectioner’s sugar in my mouth, has carried me to new heights. The reality now is I can’t really eat flour, sugar, butter, as a combo deal, not if I don’t want to feel crummy later. Behold the challenge of how to achieve this mouth sensation dairy, gluten and sugar free. I am certain we have achieved an as close as you can get to the real thing cookie and maybe even better then the real thing.