Chocolate Baking Dessert Italian

Spiced mosto cotto cookies (spicchiteddi)

Name: Spiced mosto cotto cookies (spicchiteddi) recipe
Yield: 24
Cuisine: /italian
Ingredients: 500g plain flour or 450g tipo 00 flour; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground cloves; 1 tsp ground cardamom; 1 tsp bicarb soda; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 250ml grape; 60g unsalted butter, melted; 1 sachet vanillina (from specialty grocers) or 1 tsp vanilla extract; Finely grated zest of 2 mandarins and 1 lemon or 1 orange and 1 lemon; 120g whole blanched almonds

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by delicious. team

delicious. team

Jan 16, 2025

"Spicchiteddi are soft, not too sweet and fragrant with warm spices and mosto cotto, or grape-must syrup. Although everyone has a different way of forming them, they always have spirals and exactly two whole blanched almonds per cookie. It is said that they ward against the malocchio, or evil eye, like so many things in Sicily do." - Victoria Granof

This recipe is an edited extract from Sicily, My Sweet by Victoria Granof, published by Hardie Grant Books, AUD$49.99. Available now.

500g plain flour or 450g tipo 00 flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup (250ml) mosto cotto, grape molasses or vino cotto
60g unsalted butter, melted
1 sachet vanillina (from specialty grocers) or 1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 2 mandarins and 1 lemon or 1 orange and 1 lemon
120g whole blanched almonds

Method

1.

Line two baking trays with baking paper.
2.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 tsp fine salt, bicarb soda and baking powder into a large bowl.
3.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mosto cotto, melted butter, vanillina and zest. Stir this into the flour mixture, mixing well to combine and form a dough. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Remove the dough about 20 minutes before you plan to use it.
4.

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.
5.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into four. Divide each portion into 12 pieces. Roll the pieces into ropes about 10-12cm long and curl into spirals of different sizes and shapes. As you work, place the spirals on the prepared trays with two finger-widths between each. Push the spirals together in pairs. When all formed, press 2 almonds into each cookie.
6.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until firm to the touch and nicely browned. Allow to cool completely on trays.