I had a seminar this past weekend and I made an Italian cookie that is usually made to celebrate Carnevale (Mardi Gras, fat Tuesday). The cookies are usually fried or baked and served with a cup of chocolate sauce to dip into. For convenience of serving this as part of the cooking seminar I dipped the cookies in semi-sweet chocolate. I didn’t realize these cookies were going to be such a hit and did not give out the recipe at the seminar. So many people asked for the recipe so here it is!! I think what makes these cookies so tasty and unusual is the lemon zest and the marsala wine. Typical of Neapolitan baking. In the next couple of weeks I promise I will share with you on my blog the last 3 seminars with recipes and lots of information! Talk to you all soon. Vivi con gusto!
Chiaccheri al Forno
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups of flour
½ cup of sugar
2 ounces of softened butter (half a stick of butter)
2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons of Marsala Wine
Zest of 2 whole lemons (make sure when you grate it that you don’t get the white part – it’s the bitter part)
1 tsp of vanilla 1 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
Melted semi sweet dark chocolate for dipping – I add a little shortening to thin it out
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine all the ingredients except for chocolate in a mixer and mix until all combined. The dough will be sticky.
- Put dough on a flour surface and knead and keep adding flour until it’s a smooth non-sticky consistence.
- Roll out dough until it’s an 1/8 of an inch.
- Cut with a pizza cutter into rectangles. Then indent the middle of the rectangle in one or two cuts.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure you space the chiarccheri so they don’t over lap.
- Bake in oven until they have a golden color – about 10 -12 minutes
- Dip the edges in melted chocolate