Canestrelli cookies are extremely crumbly and delicious cookies shaped like flowers, with ancient origins in Liguria, in the Genoese hinterland, particularly in Torriglia.
The history of these cookies dates back to the 13th century, when some wafer producers decided to create these flower-shaped cookies with six points using flour and butter: an absolutely innovative and transgressive recipe for those times, considering that those ingredients were a real luxury for almost everyone and could only be afforded by the wealthiest people. These buttery little cookies were so valuable that they even became a currency of exchange in trade.
Since then, the recipe for canestrelli cookies has remained practically identical over time, with very few changes, and they have become a symbol of abundance and wealth.
The peculiarity of the canestrelli shortcrust pastry lies in the use of hard-boiled yolks: it is precisely the sieved hard-boiled yolks that give these cookies their unmistakable crumbly texture. They are really delicious and are ideal not just for tea time or a snack, but they are also perfect to give as a gift or to bring as a dessert when invited to lunches or dinners.
To make canestrelli, you need the classic 6-point flower cookie cutter, but if you don’t have it and still want to savor the goodness of these cookies, you can improvise with any flower-shaped cutter or any other shape.
Furthermore, to have evenly thick shortcrust, I recommend equipping yourself with a rolling pin with spacers or obtaining two wooden sticks of 0.2 inches high to place on the sides of the shortcrust.
Well, now I’ll leave you with the recipe, and let’s see together how to prepare these delicious canestrelli cookies, but first, I’ll give you some other tasty cookie ideas to make at this time of year!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Liguria
- Seasonality: Christmas, All Seasons
- Energy 363.01 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 45.39 (g) of which sugars 16.85 (g)
- Proteins 3.46 (g)
- Fat 19.55 (g) of which saturated 12.23 (g)of which unsaturated 7.24 (g)
- Fibers 0.44 (g)
- Sodium 5.02 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 77 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 for Canestrelli Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups potato starch
- 3 egg yolks (hard-boiled)
- 3/4 cups butter
- 1/2 cup powdered vanilla sugar
- 1 packet vanillin (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1 lemon zest (grated)
- as needed powdered vanilla sugar
Tools to Make Canestrelli Cookies
- Cookie Cutter canestrello-shaped
- Pan
- Bowl
- Baking Sheets
- Rolling Pin with cookie spacers
- Sieve
Steps to Make Canestrelli Cookies
Let’s see together how to prepare these delicious canestrelli cookies. I recommend taking the butter out of the fridge at least an hour before, to let it soften.
Place 3 eggs in cold water. Bring to a boil and from the moment the water starts boiling, cook for 10 minutes. Once ready, drain them and let them cool. Remove the shell and discard the hardened egg whites (which are not needed for the recipe, but should definitely not be thrown away, they can be eaten with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt) and set aside the hard-boiled yolks.
In the bowl of the stand mixer, place the softened butter, sugar, grated lemon zest, and vanillin (or vanilla extract). Mix until a cream forms.
Press the hard-boiled yolks through a sieve using the back of a spoon.
Add the sieved yolks to the mixer bowl and continue working the dough.
Add the sieved potato starch and flour, and mix just enough to combine the ingredients.
When they are more or less combined, transfer the dough to a surface and compact the shortcrust with your hands.
Flatten the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let the shortcrust rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
After the resting time in the fridge, take out the shortcrust, roll it to a thickness of 0.2 inches, and use the cutter to create canestrelli.
Re-knead the leftover shortcrust and make more canestrelli until the dough is used up. If the shortcrust warms up and softens too much, let it chill in the freezer for a few minutes.
Place them gently on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, slightly spaced apart from each other. Place the sheets in the fridge for at least half an hour. This is a very important step, as it allows the butter to set, and the canestrelli will not lose their shape during baking. The shortcrust must be well chilled when the cookies go into the oven.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 340°F for 10-12 minutes. Adjust according to your oven, but keep in mind that the canestrelli should remain pale.
Once ready, do not touch them on the sheet, as they are very delicate.
Sprinkle them with powdered sugar while they are still warm.
Transfer them to a tightly sealed container or a serving dish and enjoy them whenever you crave something sweet, whether it’s breakfast, snack time, tea, or coffee time!
Storage and Tips
– Canestrelli can be stored for days in a tightly sealed tin box or container with a lid, away from heat and moisture sources.
– Since butter is a main ingredient in the recipe, I recommend using high-quality butter: ideally, it would be centrifuged butter or Bavarian butter. If you have lactose intolerance, you can use lactose-free butter. Oil and margarine are not suitable for this recipe.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Why are these cookies called Canestrelli?
The origin of the name of these cookies is somewhat controversial. The most accredited version is that these cookies are named after “baskets,” that is, woven wicker containers in which the cookies were placed to cool after baking.
