Italy: Nonna’s Cookies

Michael Antioco-Ridgway

Nonna’s Cookies: Italy

Does your culture have a tradition passed down from generation to generation? Something that almost every little boy and little girl does with their nonna’s and nonno’s (grandparents)? In the Italian culture, the tradition of making homemade lemon cookies with your grandparents when you got home from school was common. Flour, baking powder and eggs are the three main ingredients in this Italian dessert. These 3 ingredients would make sense for my family recipe due to the fact that the recipe was written down during and after World War II and the only ingredients available were very basic. The dessert can be prepared in many different ways depending on your personal family tradition. For example, in my family the lemon cookies would traditionally be in the shape of an “S”. My nonna adds a little something extra by glazing the cookies in a lemon icing made from icing sugar, lemon rind and milk.

THE RECIPE

·         Ingredients

§ 6 eggs (large)

§ 1 cup  sugar

§ 3/4 cup oil

§ 1/4 cup of milk

§ 6 heaping teaspoons of baking powder

§ 4 cups of flour’

·         Procedure

1. Put all ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Mix the ingredients together by hand.

3. Remove the dough from the bowl, and on a flat surface, knead the dough by hand, turning it over and over.  If the dough is too watery, add some flour.

4. Remove small amount of dough at a time, roll lengthwise into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter - should look like a small cigar, no longer than 3-4 inches long.

5. Take the cigar-like shape and curve into a half moon, crescent, shape into an S, tie a bow with it or holding the top in your right hand and the bottom in your left hand, twist in opposite directions.

6. Place on cookie sheet and bake in oven at 350◦ for about 15 minutes. 

7. If conventional oven, bake until bottom of cookie is lightly brown and then broil until top of cookie is lightly brown.

8. If convectional oven, bake for about 15 minutes until both bottom and top are lightly brown.

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