Pinch of almond paste, the original Sicilian recipe

The pizzicotti of almond paste are delicious Sicilian pastries that are easy to prepare and excellent for cheering up a tasty snack.

The original recipe of almond paste pizzicotti comes directly from the wonderful and sunny Sicily . These crumbly sweets take their name from their irregular shape due to the “pinch” that is given to them on the surface before cooking. They are simple to make but you will have to respect the right rest time if you want to get the perfect consistency once cooked.

Excellent as a snack, as a breakfast dessert, over tea with friends or at the end of a meal accompanied by a good coffee. For a birthday buffet based on desserts, these almond pastries cannot be missed … the little ones will also like them a lot! They will also be a nice gift idea to give to dear friends along with a bottle.

Let’s run to prepare the recipe for the delicious almond biscuits!

Preparation of the almond paste pinch recipe

1. Chop the almonds in a blender together with the sugar until they are reduced to flour .
2. Add the egg whites, lemon zest and almond flavor and continue to work until the mixture is soft and compact .
3. Transfer the dough into a bowl and shape into balls with wet hands . Soak them in a bowl with icing sugar and place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Pinch the top of the balls with your fingers, giving the so-called “pinch”.
5. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 5 hours .
6. After the time has elapsed, take the sweets out of the fridge and bake in a convection oven at 180 ° C for about 10 minutes until golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven, let it cool and taste with a coffee!

If you prepare the dough the night before by letting it rest in the fridge overnight , it will make your pinch of almond paste even more compact for cooking. You can replace the lemon zest with the zest of an orange or a mandarin as you like, and flavored if you prefer with vanilla or cinnamon powder. For a more natural flavor, place an almond in the center of the sweet as a substitute for the almond flavor.

storage

Keep your pastries at room temperature for up to a week in an airtight container so as not to disperse their fragrance.

If you can’t do without the delicious sweets, try the Apulian cartellate … tradition is never wrong!