Fave Dei Morti

Fave dei morti are small Italian almond cookies flavored with cinnamon and lemon. The unique flavor combination makes them truly special!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Servings cookies

Calories 127kcal

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a food processor, grind up the almonds until they're a fine, sand-like texture. Remove from the food processor.
In the food processor, grind up the pine nuts until they're a fine texture as well. The pine nuts are oilier than the almonds so they will be more like a paste than the almonds.
In a small bowl, beat the egg, egg yolks and rum together until well-incorporated.
In a bowl, add the flour, ground almonds, and sift the icing sugar on top. Add the ground pine nuts. Add the lemon zest and cinnamon. Mix together with a spoon, and make a well in the center.
Add the egg mixture to the well. Knead with your hands until the dough starts to come together. Put the dough onto a flat surface and continue kneading until the dough is smooth.
Cut a piece off the dough and roll it into a log. Cut a small piece off of the log and roll it between your hands into a ball. The balls should be about ¾-1" in diameter.
Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, or as soon as they're slightly golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

If you don't have 00 flour, all purpose flour will work as well.
Grappa can be used instead of rum.
Traditional fave dei morti are very small (ie. the size of fava beans). This recipe makes them on the larger side, but you can make them smaller if you'd like!

Recipe adapted from Giallozafferano.