Calabrian piparelli with honey are thin and crunchy cookies made with almonds, honey, and spices, perfectly enjoyed with dessert wines or to accompany coffee, tea, or almond milk.

They are typical sweets from southern Italy, specifically from the cities of Reggio Calabria and Messina, found in all pastry shops. Being toasted cookies, this process was once conducted in large wood-fired ovens that smoked like pipes, which is where the name of the cookie comes from.

They resemble the classic Tuscan cantucci but are distinguished by their unmistakable and aromatic scent of cloves, cinnamon, and honey.

I love these cookies that I have always eaten since I was little, until a while ago I also used to buy them in pastry shops, even in the thicker version.
They are great after a meal, I recommend dipping them in a good cold glass of dessert wine like Zibibbo or Malvasia and enjoying them slowly….be careful as one leads to another, and the alcohol might play some tricks!

After researching a bit about the ingredients and procedure, here’s my personalized version. I halved the sugar and used butter and oil instead of the lard the original recipe called for.

TRY THESE RECIPES TOO

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Medium
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Cooking time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 2 trays
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients for Calabrian piparelli with honey

4 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Butter
3 tbsp Sunflower oil
1/3 cup Orange blossom honey (or wildflower honey)
2 pinches Ground cinnamon
2 pinches Ground cloves
1 tsp Dried orange peel
2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 cup Water
1 cup Toasted almonds

Tools

1 Bowl
1 Baking sheet
1 Oven

Preparation for Calabrian piparelli with honey

To prepare these cookies, start by toasting the almonds under the oven grill for a few minutes.
Just 5 minutes to give a slight crunch, the final toasting is achieved during the drying of the cookie.
If you have a stand mixer, use it, otherwise knead by hand in a bowl or on a work surface.
Place the flour in the stand mixer bowl or a regular bowl, add all the dry ingredients such as sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and dried orange peel, set speed to 3 or mix all ingredients well by hand.
Continue by adding honey melted in a bain-marie, softened butter, and oil, mix again and then add water.
Mix well until the dough is nice and homogeneous, then add the whole toasted almonds.
Keep kneading, when well blended into the dough, divide it into three equal parts. Form elongated loaves and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced apart.

BAKING

Bake in a preheated convection oven at 350°F for about 20/25 minutes, if using the traditional method, extend the baking time by a few more minutes.
Adjust according to the power of your oven for baking, the roll should be nicely golden.

After baking, remove the loaves from the oven and let them cool enough before slicing, otherwise, they will crumble.
With a good knife, cut the loaves diagonally to the thickness you prefer, I like them very thin.
After slicing, arrange the piparelli on baking trays side by side, bake them again for about 15 minutes at 300°F, turning halfway so they can dry completely and achieve their characteristic crispness.

Turn off the oven and let the piparelli rest to allow those characteristic flavors and aromas to develop and set. Once cooled and rested, you can enjoy these delicious crunchy and fragrant cookies.