Merry Christmas with Mustaccioli!
What can I tell you that you don’t already know about this typical Christmas dessert from Campania⁉
📍 Mostaccioli is the Italianization;
📍n the Neapolitan mustaccioli, despite the homonymy with many regional Italian sweets made from grape must, do not resemble any of these;
📍among the regional variations, those from Benevento and the entire Sannio with a softer and taller dough (because it is slightly leavened) to which Strega liqueur is added during the dough preparation, and they also vary in slightly smaller sizes;
📍a distant relative is the German Printen, a type of richly spiced gingerbread, with caramel-like notes and a hard texture.
My version is vegan, meaning instead of honey, I used maple syrup.
They are perfect for the holiday season, alongside other Neapolitan Christmas classics like roccocò, susamielli and struffoli.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 16 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Double boiler, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 2 1/8 cups flour
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp pisto
- to taste orange zest
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 3 1/3 tbsp orange juice
- 9 oz 60% dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Tools
- 1 Cutter diamond shape
Steps
Mix the flour with maple syrup, sugar, pisto, orange zest, cocoa, and almond flour.
Add the orange juice (or warm water) while kneading.
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Roll out, create diamonds of 4-5 inches in length and 1/4 inch thick.
Bake in the oven at 356°F for 12 minutes.
Melt the chocolate with coconut oil in a double boiler.
Dip each cookie once cooled, and let dry on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is Neapolitan pisto made of?
Pisto is a key ingredient in Neapolitan Christmas sweets, giving them a spicy aroma that immediately evokes the festive atmosphere.
It is usually mixed into the dough of cookies and sweets.
15 g Ground cinnamon
5 g Pepper
5 g Nutmeg
2 g Cloves
2 g Star anise
2 g Coriander seeds
Preparation: Crush the spices in a mortar and briefly toast them in a pan to release the aroma. The resulting powder can be stored for several months if kept in an airtight container.
Curiously, these ingredients are also part of traditional Indian curry, especially coriander.
