Delicious Italian Bocconotti: The Nostalgic 7 Ingredient Cookie! - Just Crumbs Blog By Suzie Durigon (2024)

I don’t know about you guys, but baking has always made me feel good.

And I know that’s not true for a lot of people.

For a lot of people, baking is stressful.

It makes me think that I was born in the wrong era (I was definitely born in the wrong era).

Like most women, my grandmother and mother used to bake to relax … and that was good because, back in the day, doing something that made only YOU feel good (especially if you were a woman) was frowned upon.

Maybe it was just Italians…I don’t know. But I do know that’s how it was in my house growing up. Kinda sad I guess, but also very empathetic in another way.

So if baking was a stress reliever back in the day, it was good because it benefited everyone…unlike getting a manicure, which is about you and your pretty hands!

Speaking of hands (good segue right ;)), these are my aunt’s hands. She made the best cookies and was our resident bocconotti maker in the family. A few years ago, a few of my cousins and I went to her house to learn from her (she was so excited…she even dressed up for us!). It was a fabulous day! If you’d like to read all about it, you can see the post here).

These bocconotti cookies are made all over Italy (and made in many different ways) but this is the traditional Abruzzesi way (my aunt is from Abruzzo). Here, the ‘ricetta’ (recipe) is made alle mandorle (with almonds) and al cioccolato (with chocolate).

The filling starts with whipped egg white…

Then, you add grated chocolate (I just like to chop it in little pieces in the food processor…it saves the skin on my knuckles from all the grating!!)

Then I’ll add the almond meal/flour in and give it another pulse to combine it with the chocolate…

And then add that mixture to the beaten egg whites (I find mixing the almonds and chocolate together means you need less folding so your egg whites stay fluffy!).

These little tins (below) are what are used traditionally but, if you can’t find them, you can use mini muffin tins (grease them well!!).

The dough can rest on the counter (feels almost like a dense pasta dough!).

You want to spray the tins to make sure they don’t stick (I spray them in the sink!!)

Just pull off about a tablespoon of the dough and push it into the tin (my aun’ts original recipe called for rolling the pastry in a pasta machine to get it thin …which you can do but the pastry will be almost crunchy, which is still super yummy)

So pretty, no??

Seriously, if you know, you know!

With a sprinkle of powdered sugar, they are so good and not at all sweet (like most Italian cookies).

This is actually my aunt’s tray (below). When she died, her daughter-in-law asked me what I wanted of hers (it’s kinda tradition for the next of kin to lay out old glasses and kitchen ware and then everyone takes something to remember her by). So I got her tray and some beautiful little shot glasses which I use all the time!

The inside is soft and pillowy, with hints of chocolate. A perfect accompaniment to an afternoon espresso!

And in case you’re wondering why I didn’t just update my original post, I just couldn’t. It is everything a post shouldn’t be…the pictures are blurry, the recipe is buried in the post (and not printable), the story is a bit ‘rambling’…yet it continues to be my most popular post on the blog!

Whenever I see the photos and the pictures of her hands, I get emotional. The times we spent together learning from her meant so much to all of us.

I hope she’s looking down on all of us making her recipe.

Zia Rachelina, you were a rockstar!

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