Tender Canistrelli Cookies, Traditional Carnival Recipe/ Italian Shortbread Biscuits
- Love What UEAT
- Mar 9
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 21
Desserts & Treats#recipe #canestrelli #Italiancookies #biscotti #shortbreadcookies #carnevale #Easter #Pasqua #Christmas #Natale #simplecookies #easycookies
Tender Canistrelli Cookies, Traditional Carnival Recipe/ Italian Shortbread Biscuits
Canestrelli, the recipe for delicious, melt in your mouth tea time biscuits. These famous light & fragrant flower-shaped biscuits, with a whole in the centre, originates from the regions of Piedmont and Liguria, which are located in Northern Italy.
They are the ideal biscuits for dunking.
The secret to their success lies in the particular type of dough. In addition to a good dose of butter & that of “crumbled” hard-boiled egg yolks, makes an incredible soft shortcrust pastry dough.
You will often see these biscuits during Italian carnival 🎭 all the way till Easter 🐣.
However; they are also popular at Christmas time and can be easily made all year round.
We will show you step-by-step how to prepare these simple, easy & delicious biscuits.
INGREDIENTS: makes approximately 24 biscuits
1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
1 cup (120 g) cornstarch
2/3 cup (90 g) powdered sugar (plus more for dusting)
2/3 cup (150 g) unsalted butter 🧈 (room temp)
1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla extract
3 hard boiled yolks
Zest of one lemon 🍋
Juice of half a lemon 🍋
Pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS: Oven temperature 350 F (180 C)
Baking time: 18-20 minutes
1) First, boil the eggs. Place them in a pot, cover completely with cold water. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Once water begins to boil, turn off the heat & cover the pot with a lid. Leave the eggs in the hot water for approximately 8 minutes.
2) After the 8 minutes, drain the hot water & add cold water to the pot. This will stop the cooking process. Leave them in the cold water for approximately 10 minutes before peeling the eggs.
Tap the eggs on a hard surface to break the entire shell into pieces.
Carefully peel it away along the fractures, leaving the egg whites intact.
Using a pairing knife, gently cut the white part of the eggs in half. Remove the egg yolks. Set aside.
3) In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch & powdered sugar. Add the salt, lemon zest & the egg yolks by pressing them through a strainer. Mix well.
4) Add the butter. Using your hands, work in the butter into the dry mixture till you get a “sand like” texture. When you squeeze the mixture in your hand,it should hold together.
5) Time to add the vanilla extract & lemon juice. Work into a soft round dough.
6) Place the dough in between 2 parchment papers. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4” (6mm). Place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes for the butter to solidify.
7) Using a flour shaped cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits. Use a small piping tip to make a whole in the centre of the biscuits. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Collect the remaining dough & continue making the biscuits.
8) Bake in a preheated 350F (180C) oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies are lightly browned.
NOTE: Once fully baked, the biscuits will have a pale colour.
9) Cool completely on a wire rack before dusting them with powdered sugar.
These biscuits go very well with a hot cup of tea 🫖, cup of coffee ☕️ or a glass of milk 🥛! They are simply delicious 😋 and don’t forget to dunk them !
Nancy and Franca thank you for viewing this recipe,and as always, continue to …
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