Almond Pinecone Cookies are your holiday go-to for parties and cookie swaps. They’re gluten-free, delicious, easy to make, and this recipe yields a whopping seven dozen. This recipe has been adapted from Oh Cakes by Winnie, a year-round Instagram inspiration with slightly larger cookies.
My Tweaks
To bring out the holiday flavors, I tweaked Winnie's recipe by adding almond extract and vanilla bean paste while incorporating pecans for a richer taste. Check out her original version if you prefer cookies with just a hint of almond flavor.
Tiny Twist
For a tiny twist, I made mine bite-sized, getting 82 cookies per batch since I have to make seven dozen cookies for my holiday cookie swap today. Whip up a batch for your next festive gathering and watch how fast they disappear!
Almond Pinecone Cookies-Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 350 g Ground Almonds
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
- 150 g Icing Sugar
- 3 Eggs medium
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or substitute vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 50 g dark chocolate
- ¼ teaspoon coconut oil
- Icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Prepare the Dough:
- Preheat your oven to 175c (325F) and line a flat baking tray with baking paper.
- Combine the ground almonds, pecans, pinch of salt, and sifted icing(powdered) sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and extracts in a separate bowl and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix with a whisk or spatula until you get a thick, slightly sticky paste. Add more ground almonds (25g) to make it easier to work with. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate 1-3 hours.
- Shape the Cookies:
- Cut the dough in half. Roll the dough to ¼ inch thick on a floured surface (use almond flour for dusting the surface to keep with GF). For uniform cookies, slice the dough into equal portions using a pizza cutter. Roll each segment into an almond shape and arrange them on the baking tray. Flatten the surface slightly. You can also use a one-teaspoon scoop, but since the batter is very sticky it takes much longer to make the recipe.
- Press sliced almonds into the top of each cookie in overlapping rows to mimic the pine cone look. Leave about one-third of the cookie bare for dipping in chocolate later.
- Bake and Finish:
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Then, allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Dust the almond section of the cookie with icing sugar.
- Melt the dark chocolate with coconut oil and dip the bare end of each cookie into the chocolate. Let the dipped cookies set on parchment paper before serving.
Nutrition
Holiday treats are not just desserts; they're little bundles of joy that bring warmth, love, and memories to our festive gatherings.
Leave a Reply