MAKES 24 TO 30 COOKIES
Like other traditional celebrations in Catalunya and Aragón, All Saints’ Day is marked with specific foods, including roasted sweet potatoes and chestnuts. The biggest indulgence, though, is found in pastelerías: trays of panellets. Panellets are marzipan cookies made from a base of almonds, sugar, and sweet potato. The best known are these, perfectly round and rolled in pine nuts. Not all of the pine nuts will stick when rolled; they need to be pressed one by one into the gaps. Find help and be patient; it’s worth it, for the cookies are sublime. They come out of the oven quite soft, but will firm up slightly as they cool. Serve with glasses of sweet white wine.
1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add the sweet potato, and gently boil until tender, about 30 minutes. (If using potato, reduce the cooking time by 5 or 10 minutes.) Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. When cool enough to handle, remove the peel and discard. Transfer the sweet potato to a large bowl, mash with the back of a fork, and let cool.
2. Add the ground almonds, sugar, and lemon zest to the bowl. Gently work the mixture by hand until it holds together. At first it will feel dry and crumbling, but it will gradually moisten as you work the dough. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill the dough and make forming the cookies easier.
3. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7.
4. Separate the egg, placing the white in one bowl and the yolk in another, and beat each with a fork. Place the pine nuts in a pie pan or wide bowl. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
5. Form the cookies by rolling about 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball. Roll it in egg white and then in the pine nuts. Patiently cover the cookies with pine nuts as needed. Place the cookies 1 inch/2.5 cm apart on a baking sheet. Brush lightly with the egg yolk.
6. Bake the cookies until the pine nuts are lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Watch that the pine nuts don’t burn. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
