Name: Almond Cookies
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: Makes about 48 cookies
Ingredients: 2 cups raw almonds with skins (10 1/2 ounces), toasted; 1/4 cup pine nuts (1 ounce), lightly toasted; 1 1/3 cups sugar; 2 to 3 large egg whites; 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising); 1/8 teaspoon salt

(Brutti-boni)

Brutti ma buoni (which means "ugly but pretty") are cookies found in many regions of Italy, usually made from finely ground almonds in a meringue base. But the Mattei bakery, in Prato, makes them in typical Tuscan style, which is quite different. The egg whites are only beaten lightly, and the nuts are coarsely ground. They are known in the Tuscan dialect as brutti-boni.

Cooks' note:

Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

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