PANELLETS (PINE NUT COOKIES)

Steps:

• To blanche the almonds: Add the almonds to boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse them in cold water. You should be able to easily remove the almonds from thier skins. Filling: In a food processor, mix the nuts amd 1 tsp of flour (you may been more flour if using the pine nuts) until it reaches a consisteny of fine bread crumbs (pine nuts might look like chunky PB beacuse of all the oil in them). Add the nut paste to a mixing bowl, and all the sugar and lemon zest. Add the egg slowly, blending well. (if using pine nuts, you should eyeball it with the egg, you might only need 1/2 to make the paste. If the paste is too wet, add a little bit more flour). Knead it all till its an even, pliable dough. Outter Cookie: In a lare bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg, almond and vanilla extracts, and blend well. In a separate bowl, sift and conbine the flour and salt, and then slowly mix the flour into the butter mixture. When a dough is formed, wrap it in saran wrap and refridgerate for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the "outer" dough out till about 1/4 in thick. Cut with a round cookie cutter. Take these little cookies and spoon a small amout of the nut paste in the center. Bring the sides of the outer cookie up and around the paste, to completely envelop it, and roll the cookies in the palm of your hands to make a ball. Roll the top 1/2 of the cookie around in the pine nuts, and push them into the dough. Bake the cookies on a cookie sheet. Bake about 15 minutes, the bottom edges of the cookie and nuts will turn slightly golden. Do not brown. Remove and cool. Dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy!