Mucatoli or nucatoli the Sicilian holiday cookies, typical sweets of the tradition and of the Sicilian cuisine. Nucatoli are sweets filled with honey and dried fruit, usually wrapped in a slightly sweet shortcrust pastry made with lard and belong to the same family as Buccellati (sweets with dried figs) or Biscotti al mosto cotto called “Mmugghiati”.
The main characteristic of Nucatoli is their S shape; they are open on the front so that the filling can be seen and they are enriched with a bright white glaze. The filling of Nucatoli varies depending on the production area and can be made with dried figs, honey, cooked must, walnuts or almonds, hazelnuts, candied orange peel.
Sweets mainly belonging to the Christmas tradition and the All Saints’ Day festivities of southeastern Sicily, they are made in Modica and Ragusa, but in Sicily the recurrent name can also refer to different sweets. In Acireale, for example, Nucatoli are identified with the famous Rame di Napoli.
Also called Nucattoli, Nacatuli, Nucatili, Nucatali, Nacatula, Nucatuli or Nucatili, in Ragusa they are mainly filled with almonds and honey. Sicilian Nucatoli are also common in the provinces of Syracuse, Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Enna and Trapani and, as with every respected traditional recipe, each family has its own unique version passed down through generations. It is also worth noting that in some areas the base dough can be made with the typical shortcrust used for braid-shaped Sicilian cookies, while in others with natural sourdough, so there is no single “original” recipe and the nucatoli recipes are indeed infinite. Let’s go to the kitchen now and discover the recipe for my friend Chiara’s grandmother’s nucatoli, but before rolling up our sleeves I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients to make Nucatoli Sicilian holiday cookies
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (500 g)
- 3 eggs (medium)
- 7 tbsp milk (100 ml)
- 3.5 oz lard (100 g)
- to taste lemon zest
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (65 g)
- 4 1/4 cups honey (1 L)
- 2 1/2 cups dried figs (400 g)
- to taste lemon zest
- 10 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/3 cups candied orange peel (200 g)
- 1 cup almonds (130 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 cup walnuts (100 g)
- 1 cup hazelnuts (100 g)
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (150 g)
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (300 g)
- to taste lemon juice
Tools
- Baking tray
- Oven
- Rolling pin
- Bowl
- Blender
- Piping bag disposable
- Parchment paper
Preparation
Following the recipe you will find step-by-step photos, taken from a vintage-style video I filmed some time ago. I therefore recommend pureeing all the dried fruit and figs rather than chopping them with a knife as you see in the photos, which is what I actually did.
Gather the dried nuts on a tray and toast them in a hot oven at 356°F for a few minutes, just long enough to lightly brown them. If the hazelnuts are already roasted, skip this step. Let the nuts cool and chop them very finely, either with a knife or preferably in a blender. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a piece of organic lemon zest and 10 whole cloves, and blanch for 10 minutes; the figs only need to rehydrate slightly.
Drain the figs together with the zest and chop or puree them finely. Do the same with the candied orange peel.
Pour the honey into a pot, add the chopped nuts, the figs, and the candied peel.
Add the cinnamon and cardamom, stir and place on the heat, bringing it just to the verge of boiling.
The mixture will be very liquid; add the flour little by little, stirring, and return to the stove. The mixture will thicken slightly while remaining soft. Move it to a bowl and let it cool for a few hours, stirring occasionally.
Prepare the cookie base. In a bowl combine the flour and lard, rubbing them together until crumbly; make a well and add the eggs and the sugar.
Beat the eggs with the sugar so the sugar dissolves, then add the lemon zest.
Knead until you obtain a homogeneous dough. Let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes, covered with plastic wrap or a cloth, and start shaping the cookies. With slightly oiled hands form logs of the honey-and-fig filling about 3/8 inch (1 cm) thick.
Take the dough from the fridge and, dusting with a little flour, roll out a sheet about 2–3 mm thick (approximately 1/16–1/8 inch). Using a fluted pastry wheel cut strips about 3–3.5 cm wide (about 1.2–1.4 inches). Place the filling on the strips and roll over to cover only the sides, leaving the top open. Place the cookies on parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 356°F for 20 minutes or until they are very lightly golden.
Remove the cookies from the oven. Work the powdered sugar with lemon juice, adding a few drops at a time so the glaze does not become too runny. Using a disposable piping bag or a decorating pen, let the glaze drip over the nucatoli; if it is not too liquid it will adhere to the cookies and set in about 30 minutes.
The Nucatoli are ready to enrich your festivities; wait a couple of days before tasting them and you will see how delicious they are!
Storage and tips
Nucatoli can be enjoyed immediately, but they become excellent if eaten after a couple of days. Store them at room temperature covered with a cotton cloth for several days.
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