Almond pasticcino sweets

Assorted almond cookies made from almond flour (100%), sugar, honey and egg whites. Soft and delicious pastries renowned and now available in all pastry shops, also perfect as a gift idea. To make almond sweets at home, you can buy ready-made or easily prepare almond flour, finely grinding the almonds in the mixer (peeled or not). The choice of almonds, with or without skin, is depending on the type of flour you want to obtain, since the one obtained from unpeeled almonds is rougher and a little less sweet. 

It was a long time that I wanted to include this recipe in the blog and finally I made it, I need joy and joy in this period and these sweets have given me so much. Simple in execution, cheerful in shape, color and above all the scent they release during cooking ... sublime! As a child I remember eating only those decorated with almond. It is the pastry that in Sicily never fails during the holidays.

Here's what else you need to make assorted almond sweets at home:

Ingredients

For the almond paste

240 g Almond flour

175 g Sugar

70 g egg whites

1 pinch Salt

25 g Honey

Almond aroma (one vial)

To decorate

Candied cherries

Candied orange

Peeled almonds

Almond flakes

Icing sugar

Preparation

In a mixer, mix the almond flour with the sugar. Combine the egg whites, a pinch of salt, honey and almond aroma in the center. Mix all the ingredients, always in the mixer, until you get a compact and not too hard dough. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and then transfer the dough into a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Alternatively, put the dough in a cookie shooter (in this case, "shooting" the dough directly onto the baking sheet); or again, knead the dough with your hands so as to form balls, crushing them slightly. Once you have obtained the desired shapes, place a peeled almond or candied fruit (such as orange peel or candied cherries cut in half) in the center of each pastry. Or, coat the almond paste with peeled and sliced almonds. Let the pastries rest in the fridge for at least 7-8 hours (or overnight) to dry. Bake in a static oven, already hot, at 160 ° C and cook the assorted almond paste for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool, then transfer the sweets to a serving tray and sprinkle them, to taste, with icing sugar.