Dunking cookies with lard and baking ammonia, an integral part of Sicilian cuisine and traditional grandmother recipes. Many call them Grandma’s Sicilian cookies, but in reality they are just old-fashioned cookies made with baking ammonia and lard that belong to a large family that also includes Sicilian braided cookies, a little less rustic than the former but equally tasty, Sicilian sesame cookies called reginelle, the famous Modican squisiti and many other cookies with different names and similar recipes.
But let’s get back to our dunking cookies and to the story of my recipe, inherited directly from my husband’s aunt, who during holidays or picnics never fails to bake them in her wood-fired oven and share them with us.
Her lemon cookies made with lard, simple and good like the ones our grandmothers used to make, rise with baking ammonia and smell delightfully of freshly picked citrus.
Like all of us grandchildren, I’m crazy about the cookies she makes and so a few days ago I asked her for the recipe and tried to bake them in my home oven. They didn’t come out as spectacular as hers, which are slowly baked in a wood-fired oven, but they are still delicious and crunchy. If you don’t want to use lard, try the Dunking cookies without butter and milk, they are great with seed oil too. Now let’s get into the kitchen and start working the dough, and before you run to the stove I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.
Take a look:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: about 50 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 470.63 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 85.79 (g) of which sugars 47.84 (g)
- Proteins 7.75 (g)
- Fat 12.88 (g) of which saturated 5.04 (g)of which unsaturated 6.96 (g)
- Fibers 1.30 (g)
- Sodium 77.76 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients to make Grandma’s Sicilian cookies
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 tbsp lard
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- to taste lemon zest
- 1.5 tsp baking ammonia (ammonium bicarbonate)
- 1 packet vanillin
- to taste granulated sugar (for finishing)
How to make Grandma’s Sicilian cookies
Pour the flour onto a work surface, add the lard and work until it is incorporated into the flour, forming a sandy texture.
Make a well, add the eggs and mix roughly.
Make the well again and add the milk, the sugar, the zest of one organic lemon (better if green and freshly picked), the vanillin and a heaping teaspoon of baking ammonia (about 1.5 tsp or ~7 g).
Start kneading the dough.
Stop when you have obtained a smooth, homogeneous dough.
Divide the dough into about 4 pieces and roll them into ropes about 5/8 inch in diameter.
Roll the ropes in granulated sugar and, with a sharp knife, cut them into pieces about 3/4 inch long.
Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, press the center lightly with your fingertip and space them a little apart.
Bake at 338°F (conventional/no-fan setting) for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven when they’ve reached the golden color or level of doneness you prefer.
Once all the cookies are baked, if you want them extra crunchy, place them back in the still-warm but switched-off oven and let them cool there.
Store leftover cookies well sealed in a tin box and enjoy them for an afternoon snack or breakfast, perhaps dunked in milk or tea—delicious!!
Did you like this recipe? Take a look at:
–Semolina shortbread cookies with chocolate chips;
–Double dark chocolate American cookies;
–Jam-filled cookies with pistachio shortcrust;
–Jam-filled cookies with pistachio shortcrust;
–Jam-filled cookies with almond shortcrust, crumbly and delicate;
You can replace the lard with vegetable oil; in that case use about 1/3 cup (80 g) and add the milk little by little to adjust the dough consistency.
You can also use butter in place of lard.
Changing the type of fat will alter the flavor of the cookies, but they will still be delicious.
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