Grab some milk — and give the gift of cookies!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly butter the sheets.
Break the almond paste into pieces; place in a mixing bowl with the sugar. Break up the almond paste with your fingers or an electric mixer, crumbling the ingredients together as you would for a pie crust, until evenly combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Stir a little of the egg whites into the almond mixture; it will be fairly dry. Fold in the remaining whites.
Place the pine nuts in a shall bowl. Roll the almond paste mixture into 1-inch balls, keeping them as round as possible. Press each ball into the nuts and gently turn to coat evenly; they will look like little porcupines. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
Bake the cookies until evenly pale gold, 15 to 17 minutes.
Cool the cookies in the pans on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. With a spatula, very carefully transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. These macaroons keep well; store in an airtight container.

With an electric mixer at medium speed, cream the butter with the sugar just until well combined. Add the almonds and egg and beat until light. Add the cinnamon, orange, lemon zest, kirsch or other spirit; beat until smooth.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix just until combined, no longer. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until quite firm, at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 or 3 baking sheets; set aside.
Working with about 1/4 of the dough at a time and keeping the remainder refrigerated, roll out the dough on lightly floured surface to a thickness of slightly less than 1/4 inch. With a cutter, cut out stars or other shapes. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart; roll out the remaining dough, including the scraps, and cut out cookies.
Brush the cookies lightly with the egg glaze. Bake until lightly golden, usually 10-12 minutes.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to the rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper, or generously butter the baking sheets; set aside. Scatter the almonds over a baking sheet and toast until dark-medium brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Cool slightly on a wire rack; leave the oven on. Chop enough of the almonds to measure 1/4 cup. Set both the chopped and whole almonds aside.
Cream the butter with the sugar using an electric mixer just until combined, no longer. Add the eggs and mix until blended. Add the anisette liqueur, anise seeds, 1 1/4 cups of the flour, the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and all of the almonds; mix until combined and the nuts are distributed. Stir in enough of the remaining 1/4 cup flour so the dough comes together, but is not sticky (the dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl).
Working on the prepared baking sheets, shape the dough into 4 or 5 long logs, about 1 inch wide and 3/4 inch high.
Bake until the dough is set and beginning to turn pale gold at the edges, about 13 minutes. Remove the baking sheets to a wire rack and cool for 5 to 10 minutes; leave the oven on.
Cut the biscotti into even slices about 1/2 inch wide. Arrange the slices, cut sides up, on the baking sheets. Return to the oven and bake the biscotti again until very lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store in airtight container. These biscotti keep well. 

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla and orange peel. Beat together. Add flour and salt. Roll out to a quarter-inch thickness. Cut into shapes on ungreased cooking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.