Cocoa bersaglieri cookies, the recipe for Catanese cocoa-glazed cookies, traditional sweets for the Day of the Dead, such as Rame di Napoli, nzuddi, ossa di morto, quince paste and mostarda.
The beginning of autumn in Catania is marked by the preparation of a series of long-standing traditional sweets linked to All Saints’ Day, also known as the “Festa dei Morti.” These specialties, which by tradition represented the gift that the deceased gave on November 2 to children to thank them for visiting the cemetery on November 1, now fill bars, bakeries and shops across the province from the end of September.
Whereas the old sweets were made with poor or stale ingredients, often masked by generous amounts of sugar and flavorings, times have changed.
In particular, the cookies I tell you about today were made from leftover bread dough, to which a few other ingredients were added: the dry, not-so-tasty dough once baked was sweetened with an abundant lemon glaze (biscotti regina) or a cocoa glaze (bersaglieri), and children often nibbled away the glaze leaving the cookie, getting scolded by adults.
Now that times have changed and a dessert must be good as well as sweet, the recipe has been considerably modified, transforming the bersaglieri into very soft glazed cookies that melt in your mouth with a delicate flavor. If the grandparents returned, they’d say these don’t really resemble the traditional original cookies, but times change and tastes evolve, right? Let’s get into the kitchen and prepare cocoa Bersaglieri cookies together — but before we roll up our sleeves, as always I remind you if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here) — and here you’ll also find many recipes for delicious autumn desserts, autumn risottos and lots of quick autumn recipes.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Portions: 40
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn
Ingredients to make bersaglieri
- 4 1/6 cups All-purpose flour (00)
- 9 tbsp Lard
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 egg Egg (medium)
- 1 3/4 tsp Baker's ammonia (ammonium bicarbonate)
- 1 packet Vanillin
- 1 Lemon zest (grated)
- 1/3 cup Milk (about)
- 2 1/2 cups Powdered sugar (confectioners')
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup Boiling water
Tools
- Oven
- Bowl
Preparation
After preparing all the ingredients, pour the flour onto a work surface, make a well and add the lard. Work the lard into the flour until you get a crumbly texture, make the well again and add the eggs, the sugar and a little milk. Work the sugar with the egg and milk to dissolve it, add the grated lemon zest,
and knead roughly, add the vanillin and the baker’s ammonia and, with the help of the remaining milk, knead until you obtain a homogeneous and smooth dough. Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll out ropes about 5/8 inch thick.
Cut the ropes into pieces of about 1 1/2 inches, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and
bake at 356°F (180°C) for about 15 minutes; they should be baked but not dry. Traditional bersaglieri are much longer (about 3 inches), but I prefer to make them smaller to avoid having to eat a huge cookie.
Now dedicate yourself to the cocoa glaze, which is quite simple to make and you should be able to do it quickly and without problems.
In a bowl pour the powdered sugar, the cocoa and the hot water, whisk very well and try to incorporate air; you must obtain a dense, glossy mixture in which you will dip the cookies.Dip the cookies into the glaze, coat them well and let the excess glaze drip off before placing them
on a wire rack.
Wait for the sugar to crystallize — it will take about 90 minutes. Once ready, store the cookies dry in a tin and enjoy them whenever you like; any time of day is ideal!
Notes
My cookies are neatly finished with a uniform glaze because they are glazed one by one. Commercial ones, being harder and more compact, are dipped in the glaze all at once in large quantities, stirred and then left to dry; for this reason the glaze does not spread uniformly and the cookies are often broken.
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