Cinnamon Balls: Recipe

Oh the trials and tribulations that come with spending holidays with the family! Will they never cease? The trials and tribulations that is. With so many relatives around it's easiest to just go with the flow. This year due to some changes in plans, it looks like Lee and I will be celebrating Passover three times. Oh joy! Lee loves the holiday so it's no big deal for him. And actually we will be spending the first night together just the two of us which will be a first in our five years of marriage.

A first time celebrating the first night of Passover means I can try a bunch of new recipes. New to me anyway. I have a couple of books I am eager to try out. One is Jewish Food: The World at Table and the other is The Healthy Jewish Cookbook. Both books have tons of exotic recipes that will allow me to wipe out the memories of the Jewish food I loathe most--gefilte fish. Neither book has a Passover section, so I will delve into each book to find recipes that fit the specific holiday requirements (no leavening including anything that contains barley, wheat, rye, oats, or spelt) And perhaps this year I will actually keep kosher for the entire week of Passover. We'll see.

I'm always looking for a delicious Passover dessert recipe, Cinnamon Balls are a perfect fit and also use up that bag of almond meal I've been wondering what I was going to do with... This recipe is getting a trial run this week and then it will premier at three Passover seders. If anyone tries it before I do, please report back.

This recipe reprinted from The Healthy Jewish Cookbook courtesy of Frog, Ltd. North Atlantic Books

Cinnamon Balls
serves 4-6

3 egg whites
1 heaping tablespoon ground cinnamon
5 ounces ground almonds (about 1 2/3 cups)
7 ounces brown sugar (about 1 cup)
Rice flour, for dusting (or powdered sugar)

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the egg whites until very stiff. Add the cinnamon, almonds and sugar and mix well. Roll the mixture into balls about the size of a large plum, set on a greased cookie sheet and bake until set--about 20 minutes. Dust with rice flour before setting aside to cool.

RECIPE UPDATE!
I made this recipe tonight and the egg whites have to be beaten until stiff and dry.

I don't know what "large plum" size is, but I made them using a tablespoon and they were a bit too big. I think a teaspoon would be better.

Also don't roll them, just lightly shape them, a rough surface is more attractive on the finished cookie.

Finally tablespoon size cookies made 23, way more than enough for 4-6 servings! I'll try again with a teaspoon and report back.

For a more detailed review of The Healthy Jewish Cookbook and a recipe for Orange Olive Salad, check out my post at Bay Area Bites.

FOOD + JEWISH