—Kathryn Occhipinti, Cuccidati Whatever the name, this is just one version out of many dried, fruit-filed cookies still made in Sicilian bakeries today to celebrate the Christmas season. Cuccidati, also known as Italian fig cookies are traditionally served during the holidays. To the raisin/nut mixture: add the citron, orange peel or zest, and cinnamon and mix well. Transfer onto racks to cool. Try our recipe this Christmas season for a taste of Sicilian tradition! Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area. But, instead of then cutting the tube into bite-sized pieces that are finished with icing, my family cuts larger pieces, which are then formed into different shapes, and finishes the cuccidati with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or: An alternative to the last step: pulse the pre-processed raisins and nuts in a food processor a few times if you have one, making sure the ingredients are not over processed. The recipe given below is for a Sicilian Christmas cookie—my family calls them “cuccidati,” although they are not identical to most of the cookies found online under this name. 1. Using a sharp knife, cut 4 - 5 diagonal incisions on the surface of the rolls. Ingredients 2. Renting Cars to Drive in Italy, High-Speed Italian Trains Freccia and Italo for Travel in Italy. Cut the roll into 4-5 pieces approximately 3 - 4 inch (8 - 10 cm) long. Learn Conversational Italian. Learn how your comment data is processed. Prepare the egg wash by beating the eggs with a pinch of salt. Remove dough from refrigerator. Flaky, rich, and delicious, they consist of flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and milk, while the filling is a combination of dried figs, raisins, dates, honey, chocolate, walnuts, and selected spices Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. If you have a small manual chopper/grinder specifically for nuts, put the coarsely chopped nuts into the machine and grind to obtain more finely chopped nuts, which can then be mixed with the raisins. They could be completely covered in dough, which would allow for a creative, fringe-like covering, or left open. I’ve never made homemade fig cookies. Incredibly delicious little cookies! In a food processor pulse nuts and dark chocolate. Nathan — December 20, 2016 @ 5:16 pm Reply. Drive Italy! Cuccidati (cucidati or cucciddati), and also known variously as buccellati, Italian fig cookies or Sicilian fig cookies, are fig-stuffed cookies traditionally served at Christmas time.. Candy cane shapes are popular with kids. Cut in the lard with a fork and/or your fingertips until it is the size of small peas. Italian Christmas traditions are unique to each region of the Italy and have been lovingly handed down within families through the generations. Traditional shapes are round (like a wreath), horseshoe, or long or short ribbons. Arrange them at the bottom of the cookie cake, since they are a little heavier than some of the other cookies. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the figs, raisins, candied orange, almonds, chocolate, apricot preserve, rum, cinnamon, and cloves. The micro-regionality of Italian life is mind blowing. Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE! “Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”, Join my Conversational Italian! Form into one large disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 2 Tbsp candied orange peel Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the. Be creative! (Or you can mix … Sweet cookie dough filled with dried figs, dried dates, raisins, walnuts, chocolate, apricot jam, honey, and spices. The sides and top of the dough should be cooked but not browned. Pingback: Pastry Post-Doc: Sicilian Cuccidati cookies and Buccellato Cake | Eating The World. Divide dough in half. This will make a flaky crust and avoid burning the filling. These cookies appear as if by magic and disappear in the same way! The cookies in this recipe start out as the “typical” cuccidati: one long “tube” of sweet, Italian pie-crust-like dough, which contains a dried fruit and nut center. The sides could be pinched for decoration if like, similar to how Americans form a pie crust along the rim of their pies. In a small saucepan, combine the figs, dates, orange juice, candied orange peel, sugar, lemon zest … Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy. All Sicilian cuccidati, or any Italian cookie for that matter, are unlike what Americans think of when they think of cookies. Steep dried figs in hot water for about 30 minutes. Take for example, regional dialects which until recently varied drastically every few kilometers and often divided villages. Brush the surface with the remaining egg wash. Optionally sprinkle with multicolored nonpareil. Bake the cookies, in batches, until golden around edges, about 30 minutes. With the palm of your hands roll the cylinder to make it even. Italian Subjunctive (Part 3): Speak Italian! Cuccidati are Sicilian Christmas cookies. The cuccidati is the Italian version of the American Fig Newton or actually, more accurately, I think the Fig Newton is the American version of the Italian cuccidati. Create cookies with the sides brought up to cover the filling entirely, or leave the filling uncovered and just pinch the dough together to form various designs. Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. 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