Noon Gerdooi/Baadoomi - Persian inspired Walnut and Almond Cookies

What to do with your egg yolks you might ask?... Make cookies! 

I love this recipe. We don't eat fish, so I try to give my daughter her omegas in other forms and nuts are a great source- especially walnuts. Traditionally this recipe only calls for one nut or the other, however I had made the 4th of July cake, and the white cake calls for egg whites so that left me with something like 15 egg yolks… One of my friends reminded me that we have these brilliant cookies in Iran, noon gerdooi, that are walnut cookies, "make those!" So I did! However I didn't have enough walnuts but I had some ground blanched almonds lying in my fridge… and yes the rest is yummy history!

 F U N D A B B L E R   F A C T 

Walnuts, especially when eaten raw, are a great source of omega 3 and antioxidants. 

Makes about  32, 1 inch diameter cookies
Takes between 50 min to 1 hour to make (15 min prep time, 15 min chill time, 20 min cook time) 

 I N G R E D I E N T S 

Walnuts - 2 cups whole

Almonds blanched (with no skin) ground) - 1 cup

Vanilla - 1 1/2 teaspoons

Sugar - 1/2 cup (you can add up to about 1 cup if you like them sweeter)

9 egg yolks

 I N S T R U C T  I ON S 

Add your 2 cups of walnuts

1 cup ground blanched almonds

1/2 cup sugar to your food processor 

And mix until they are all about the same fine consistency

Add your egg yolks

your 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Ideally you will let your mixture chill a bit, for about 15 min here so it is easier for you to roll, if not, and you were in a rush like me because your little one was asking for some attention, well then just get rolling and be ready for gross sticky hands. Roll into 1 inch balls

Score with a fork (just push them a bit flat with a fork) and pop in the oven for about 20 min. They don't really brown so you will know they are done when the bottoms are a bit darker than the rest.

Enjoy! 

NOTE 

You can freeze these when they are done and they are still yummy defrosted.