Hello Visitors,Today in preparation for Thanksgiving, Nonnina and I have made Celli Pieni. Traditionally Celli Pieni were made by Nonnina's Mother back home in Italy for special occasions spent with family and friends. They do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy so these were typically made around the Christmas season however, Nonnina said that if there are a lot of people getting together to celebrate, Celli Pieni are the cookies to be passed around her table.
These cookies are made with the Homemade Grape Conserva that I featured in my last post, they cannot be made with regular jam because regular jam has too much sugar. The quality of the cookie all depends on the thickness of the jam. Therefore, Good jam = AMAZING cookies.
When Nonnina makes Celli Pieni it is not just a task of making cookies for the holiday season, it is an opportunity for her to share love, laughter and the memory of her mother with her cousins Dolores and Lolita here in Canada. Every year they organize a day in their busy lives to get together to bake and of course eat these delicious holiday treats.
Without Further Ado - Celli Pieni!
Dough
1/2 cup of Canola Oil
1/2 cup of Crisco
1 cup of white wine
pinch of sea salt
3 3/4 cups of flour
Filling
1 cup of ground bakers dark chocolate (you can use any chocolate of your choosing)
2 cups of Homemade Grape Conserva
1 cup of ground roasted walnuts
1 cup of ground roasted almonds
The rinds of 1 orange
The rinds of 1 lemon
4 Tbsp of Grand Mariner
* This is a large dose that makes about 60, you can split it in half if you're looking to make 30 cookies, if you have any leftover filling it can be stored in the fridge for about a month or use it for other cookies.
Directions:
1. Pour oil, wine, Crisco and a pinch of sea salt in a food processor and pulse until all combined. The Crisco is needed to make the dough flakey.
2. Add a little bit of flour at a time until you've added a total of 3 cups of flour. Pulse until the ingredients form a dough like consistency.
3. Remove the dough the food processor and place it on a flat surface. Add about another 3/4 cup of flour and knead it by hand until the dough becomes nice and smooth, about 4-5 minutes. Make sure to lightly flour your surface as you knead.
NONNINA'S TIP* the dough should feel a little bit harder then a pizza dough so use your judgement when adding the flour as you knead.
4. Place the dough in a plastic ziploc bag and put it in the fridge for a couple hours to chill. This step can also be done ahead of time like the night before.
5. In a bowl, mix together the jam and chocolate until combined.
6. Add the ground almonds and walnuts and mix until combined.
7. Add the lemon rinds, orange rinds and Grand Marnier and mix until combined.
8. Rip a piece of dough off and leave the rest in the fridge to keep it cool. Roll out the dough so its about 1mm in thickness and using a cup or a cookie cutter, cut out 3 1/2 inch circles and put the excess dough back in the pile to reuse.
NONNINA'S TIP* if the dough is made right, you do not need any flour to roll out your dough.
9. Spoon a teaspoon of the jam mixture into the centre of your circle cutout.
10. Fold the dough in half and gently press the ends shut to take the air out.
11. Using a fork push the ends closed to seal them.
12. Fold your half moons and stretch them into the shape of a fortune cookie. Then using a fork, seal them together.
14. As soon as you remove them from the oven, roll each cookie in sugar so that the sugar sticks to the cookie.
During this holiday season make sure to remember all the things you're thankful for!
Happy Thanksgiving from Nonnina's Kitchen!
Don't forget to follow my blog to get new recipes and see what's cooking in Nonnina's Kitchen EVERY week!
Buon Apetito!
With Love From, Nonnina!
Good work. thank you for such kind of great information. For More
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