DessertsRecipes

Canestrelli – Crumbly and Delicious mini Cookies

by Micaela Harrasser

Canestrelli are one-of-a-kind cookies, coming from the north of Italy (Piedmont or Liguria) but known and loved across the whole country. They make the perfect light snack to have with tea, coffee or by themselves at the end of a meal.

Their unique and special texture, very crumbly and soft shortbread-like, comes from the presence of already cooked egg yolks in the batter.

They are very easy to make – and this version is dairy free thanks to the vegan butter (feel free to use dairy butter instead). The two most important things are: to not work the dough for too long to not melt the butter (and change the wet to dry ratio of the ingredients), and to not overcook them. Keep an eye on them after passing the 10 min mark on your oven – you are aiming for a very light golden color. Enjoy!

Canestrelli - Crumbly and Delicious mini Cookies

Serves: 4 Prep Time: Cooking Time: Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

Makes about 15 cookies

  • 1 large egg yolk already cooked and cooled
  • 70g cold butter cubed (I used vegan butter from Violife)
  • 30g icing sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 60g all purpose flour
  • 45g potato starch (alternatively you can use maizena)
  • Icing sugar to prinkle on top at the end

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients minus the egg yolk to a bowl.
  2. Take the egg yolk, pass it through a fine sieve.
  3. Mix well with your hands or a stand mixer until you get a homogeneous mixture.
  4. Try to not work it for too long to not melt the butter.
  5. Cover in parchment paper, flatten it to a thickness of about half cm with a rolling pin, and place in the fridge to cool off for 30 min.
  6. Take the cookie cutter, and cut out as many cookies as you can.
  7. Transfer them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and place in the fridge.
  8. With the leftover pastry, put it together and flatten it again with the rolling pin and place it in the fridge.
  9. Cut the remaining cookies, and place those in the fridge.
  10. After about 30 min, turn the oven onto 170C.
  11. Once it reaches temperature, take out the first batch of cookies and directly place them in the center of the oven and cook until slightly golden, about 12-15 min.
  12. Take them out of the oven and let them cool off completely.
  13. Cover with abundant icing sugar, and enjoy!

Notes

Storage: the cookies can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container for up to three days.

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