Teresa Giudice's Iconic 4-Ingredient Pignoli Cookie Recipe (She Swears By It!)
When you scroll TikTok in December, you see creators posting their favorite homemade cookie recipes. Holiday songs complement these videos well, but there’s one piece of audio that is synonymous with cookie season. It’s from a 2011 episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ), where Teresa Giudice makes her feelings known about her sister-in-law bringing sprinkle cookies instead of pignoli cookies on Christmas day. Thirteen years later, the reality TV star is sharing how to make her favorite Italian cookie.
If you’re not a Housewives superfan, you’re probably not familiar with Giudice’s iconic line. In the episode, Giudice says, “She came to my house Christmas Day. She brought me sprinkle cookies. I said to her, ‘Melissa, nobody touched the cookies you brought. I threw them in the garbage! You know what my favorite cookies are? Pignoli cookies.’ That’s all I said.”
This scene — and pignoli cookies — instantly became part of Housewives lore. Now, Giudice is going from talking about her favorite Christmas cookies to showing people how to make them.
In a recent video on her TikTok, Giudice shared a tutorial for making her pignoli cookies, which get their name from the Italian word for pine nuts. This beloved Italian staple is a tender, chewy dessert packed with almond flavor and encrusted with pine nuts. The best part? According to the RHONJ star, you only need four ingredients to make them: pine nuts, eggs, almond paste, and sugar.
Giudice has long been associated with food and cooking, from the many scenes in her New Jersey home’s kitchen to her 2010 cookbook, Skinny Italian. Of course, her passion for pignoli cookies is one of her trademarks, and the longevity of his scene has inspired many fans to attempt making this Italian dessert at home. It makes sense that she has finally decided to share her secret recipe for this beloved sweet.
To make Giudice’s pignoli cookies, start by preheating your oven to 350°F. Next, use a hand mixer to break up 16 ounces of almond paste and place it in a large bowl. Add one cup of granulated sugar to the bowl, then continue mixing until well combined. Gradually add two egg whites to the mixture, beating continuously until the dough is smooth.
Once the dough is ready, scoop out tablespoon-size portions and roll them into balls. If the dough is too sticky, wet your hands lightly with water before shaping the balls. Roll each dough ball in a bowl of pine nuts to coat them. Place the cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, slightly flattening each one. Bake the cookies for eight to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
“I love the texture. They’re so moist and soft, I also love the way the pine nuts taste,” Giudice says in the video. “They’re so delicious; you definitely need to make them at home for the holidays,” she adds.
Further Reading
Do Water Filters Really Work — And Which Ones Are the Best?
Tuscan Chicken Is the "Most Delicious" Dinner of All Time, Says Everyone Who's Tried It
Ball Just Dropped the Most Beautiful Mason Jars for Its 140th Anniversary ("So Iconic!")
