This is a typical Catalan sweet that you normally eat on November 1st, the day of “All Saints”. It is not very well known outside Catalonia and that is really a pity because they are actually very good, easy and tasty.
My recipe to make 30 Panellets, ingredients for the base dough:
- 250 gr. Very fine ground almonds
- 200 gr. Caster sugar
- 150 gr. Potatoes’ or Sweet potato
- Zest of ½ lemon
Clean the potatoes and boil them with skin until they are soft, drain well and peal them, then make puree and allow to cool down completely. After that add the sugar, almond and lemon zest, using a fork mix well but not too long otherwise it will too soft and will not cook well. Before you start making the Panellets you will need to stove your hands with flour.
With this base you can make different kind of Panellets, I made 3, 10 each, with pine nuts, with almonds and last one with coconut.
For the ones with pine nuts, you need about 70 gr. pine nuts and 1 egg, split yolk and white egg. Take pieces of the dough and make small balls, soak them into the white egg and then sprinkle all around with the pine nuts. Put in a greased baking tray and paint the top part with the yolk.
Then we have the ones with almonds, you need about 80 gr chopped almonds and 1 egg, split yolk and white egg. You prepare exactly the same as the ones with pine nuts.
With the rest of the dough you can make the ones with Coco, here you need 60 gr. of grated coconut and white egg. Take about 2/3 of the coconut and mix with the dough using a fork. Once is well mixed, make balls and give them a pyramid form, sprinkle the top part with the rest of the coconut and a bit of flour at the bottom. Paint the top part of the pyramids with the white egg.
Once all Panellets are in the baking tray, bake in a 225 degrees preheated oven for about 9 minutes, until nice and golden.
They are delicious with a glass of muscatel (sweet wine). Enjoy!
If you actually made them, let me know, I am very curious about your results!!