Let’s prepare the light pignolata or the light struffoli made from small whole wheat cookies without butter and without eggs cooked in an air fryer or oven.
Tradition
In Naples they are called struffoli, in Ragusa ‘mpagnuccata or pignolata.
They are sweets made from balls derived from strips of dough rolled into a cylinder and cut into pieces, fried or baked, coated with plenty of honey and decorated with colorful sugar sprinkles or glazed.
A typical sweet of the Christmas tradition, Carnival and St. Joseph in whose “dinners” the pignolata appears in different versions [balls cooked directly in honey or balls fried and then mixed with honey] and in different shapes [pieces on lemon leaves, in the shape of S and G indicating St. Joseph or in the shape of a donut].
Small cookies without butter and eggs
• without butter for a hyperglycemia reason.
• without eggs for personal taste.
Dough without sugar and sweeteners and without yeast.
They are simple small cookies crispy outside and soft inside: one leads to another, to munch or dip in milk.
I recommend preparing these types of doughs in small batches and consuming them within one or two days to best enjoy their characteristics as they naturally tend to lose fragrance due to the absence of certain ingredients.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Air Frying, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For about 260 g of cookies [cooked weight].
- 250 g stone-ground whole wheat semolina
- 1 pinch salt
- 50 ml water
- 50 ml white wine
- 50 ml sunflower seed oil
- lemon zest (grated)
- orange zest (grated)
Suggested Tools
- 1 Bowl
- Food Scale
- 1 Spatula silicone
- 1 Graduated Glass graduated
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Knife
- 1 Baking Sheet 25×29 cm
- Parchment Paper
Preparation
Pour into a bowl:
• 250 g of whole wheat semolina;
• 1 pinch of salt;
• lemon zest or orange zest grated;
and mix with a silicone spatula.Pour into a graduated glass:
• 50 ml of water;
• 50 ml of white wine;
• 50 ml of sunflower seed oil;
and quickly emulsify the three liquids.Transfer the liquids into the bowl with the dry ingredients and knead with your hands.
You will get a rather tough dough.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
Fold it and roll it out, repeating the operation several times so that it becomes smoother and more workable.
Roll out the dough and cut it into strips.
Cut the strips into pieces, if you prefer round them by rolling them between the palms of your hands.Follow the instructions [temperature and times] indicated in your appliance’s manual.
Procedure with the Ariete air fryer – Friggi Sano [Eurospin]:
• set the temperature to 392°F;
• preheat for 5 minutes;
• remove the basket;
• pour a drop of oil on a paper towel and grease the grill accessory;
• arrange the cookies on the grill accessory without overlapping them;
• cook for 10 minutes;
• remove the basket;
check the degree of cooking of the cookies;
• shake the basket;
• continue cooking for 5 minutes so that the cookies are crispy and golden.Line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper and place the cookies on top.
Briefly heat the oven.
Bake at 356°F for 15-20 minutes in a ventilated oven until evenly golden.
Temperatures and times may vary from oven to oven.The whole wheat cookies for the light pignolata or for the light struffoli are ready.
Light Pignolata or Light Struffoli with Honey [very little honey]
Heat a non-stick saucepan.
Pour in some honey and stir with a silicone spatula until it becomes liquid.
Add a handful of cookies and stir until they are evenly flavored with honey.
Serve the honey struffoli on a plate, on lemon leaves, or in small muffin molds.
Grate a pinch of lemon or orange zest on top and decorate with almond flakes or pine nuts.Light Pignolata or Light Struffoli Caramelized with whole coconut sugar
Heat a non-stick saucepan.
Pour in a teaspoon of whole coconut sugar and a teaspoon of water and stir with a silicone spatula until it caramelizes.
Add a handful of cookies and stir until they are evenly flavored with caramelized whole coconut sugar.
Serve the caramelized struffoli on a plate, on lemon leaves, or in small muffin molds.
Grate a pinch of lemon or orange zest on top and decorate with almond flakes or pine nuts.Light Pignolata or Light Struffoli Glazed with extra dark chocolate
Distribute the cookies on a plate or pour them into small muffin molds.
Melt the dark chocolate using a non-stick saucepan on a small stove over low heat, stirring repeatedly with a silicone spatula or using a double boiler saucepan.
Pour the melted dark chocolate over the struffoli.
As generally suggested by Professor Enzo Bonora
In any case, in the presence of diabetes, it is essential to build an experience on the impact of this and all other foods on glycemia. This means measuring before and two hours after eating it. Possibly more than once to have more reliable information. If the glycemic increase is contained [less than 50 mg], a “green sticker” can be put on that type of food. Otherwise, it’s better to avoid it.
– Professor Enzo Bonora.• pignolata cooked directly in honey presented on lemon leaves;
• pignolata fried and then mixed with honey presented on a small plate.
Storage
I recommend preparing these types of doughs in small batches and consuming them within one or two days to best enjoy their characteristics as they naturally tend to lose fragrance due to the absence of certain ingredients.
Store the whole wheat cookies or the light pignolata or the light struffoli inside a tin or glass container with an airtight seal.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Why without butter, milk, and eggs?
• without butter for a hyperglycemia reason.
• without eggs for personal taste.What can I use as a substitute for wine?
Wine adds fragrance.
If you don’t want to use wine, you can try using only water and sunflower seed oil, for example:
• 90 ml of water and 60 ml of sunflower seed oil;
• 80 ml of water and 70 ml of sunflower seed oil.Further Reading
• Semolina and Flours Glycemic Index Type 2 Diabetes.
• Sugar and Sweeteners Type 2 Diabetes;
• Chocolate and Glycemic Index, which to choose?
