If you ever travelled to Sicily, you will understand that it is next to impossible to pass by the many Sicilian bakeries and sweet shops and their large shelves laden with a variety of different biscuits and small sweets, all almost unearthly lovely looking and – as you are bound to discover – tasting, without at least every now and then stopping by in order to indulge in the one ore other bite-size sugary dream come true. Naturally, many of the Sicilian sweets feature pistachios, one of the island’s most famous products. I particularly fell in love with the type of biscotti in this recipe. It is actually quite simply and requires few other ingredients.
Sanni
Ingredients (for 12 biscuits):
- 125 grams of shelled green pistachios + 12 kernels for decoration
- 50 grams of granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon of honey
- 1 egg white
- 1 shot of amaretto
- ca. 125 grams of icing sugar
Preparation:
- Blitz the pistachios (set aside the kernels intended for decoration) together with the sugar for a few seconds until fully ground. Make sure you do not grind them for too long – they should have a sandy (and not an oily) consistency.
- Whisk the egg whites until fully mixed and just turned fully white.
- Mix the ground pistachios and sugar with the egg white, the honey and amaretto until you obtain a smooth batter.
- Pass the icing sugar through a fine mesh into a bowl. Set 1 to 2 teaspoons aside for decoration.
- With the help of two teaspoons, form small balls of dough. Use two forks in order to roll each ball in the icing sugar until fully covered with icing sugar. Then use your hands to quickly form a properly round shape and place them on an oven tray lined with parchment paper (leave some space between the individual balls).
- For decoration, place one pistachio kernel on top of each biscuit and lightly press down.
- Cover with a towel and let air-dry for several hours, best over night.
- Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (fan oven).
- Bake the biscuits for approximately 8 to 12 minutes. Observe well throughout the entire time – they are ready when they just start to brown.
- Let cool down completely and allow to air-dry for at least another hour before serving.
- Before serving, dust with some more icing sugar to your liking.
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