Caragnoli: Italian Christmas Fritters

Caragnoli -an authentic Italian food originating from the beautiful Molise area of Italy. This honey-drenched Italian fried dough, in the shape of a rose or intricate pattern, has a crispy texture and is simply delicious!

During my youth, Caragnoli (Christmas fritters) were made every Christmas by my paternal grandmother. They were made in the shape of a rose, drenched in honey and sprinkled with walnuts.

Traditional Italian fried dough recipes are very common at Christmas.

Some of these traditional recipes include struffoli (Italian honey balls), chiacchiere (crostoli), screppelle (Italian Christmas Eve donuts) and calzone de ceci (Italian chickpea cookie recipe).

It had been my privilege to re-visit this Christmas Eve tradition, originating from the beautiful area of Molise (Italy) thanks to a very special lady called Maria. Be sure to read all the details in the section “Recipe origins” where I discuss the wonderful morning I spent making Caragnoli with Maria. 

In this post, I will share with you how Maria forms her dough and my experience trying to replicate this Molisan recipe in my kitchen. Hopefully, this will inspire you to try this traditional Italian cookie 🙂

Ingredients

• Eggs. Extra-large; room temperature is best.
• Sugar. Granulated.
• Oil. A few tablespoons for the dough, a little more to fry with. 
• Flour. All-purpose.
• Baking powder. Just a few pinches!
• Honey. This just makes everything better, doesn’t it?

As far as accessories are concerned, you will need a stand mixture (or a handheld mixer), a wooden board, a rolling pin, a small grooved board and rod, a knife and a fluted pastry wheel.

You will also need a heavy-bottomed pot and a slotted spoon (or a spider), a large tray and a large bowl.

How to make Caragnoli

You can choose to make these traditional Italian fritters with a stand mixture, a handheld mixer or the old fashioned way by making a well and working the dough.

Since the video (found in the recipe card) shows the method with a handheld mixer, I will share with you the method with a stand mixer.

Begin by whisking the room temperature eggs for a couple of minutes. Next, add the sugar and whisk for a few more minutes. Finally, add the oil and whisk.

Switch to the dough hook and begin to incorporate the flour and baking powder. Maria recommends adding all but a couple of tablespoons of the flour; if the dough is on the sticky side, add the rest of the flour… add the right amount, Maria said, otherwise the caragnoli will be hard.

“… farina quanto basta…”

Use as much flour as needed. 

These words continue to haunt me. But I digress. 

Once the dough has been kneaded for 5 minutes or so, the resultant dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl. 

Form the dough in a ball and cover with plastic film. Allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes or in the words of Maria, enough time to have an espresso (or two).

After the coffee break 🙂 divide the dough into quarters. Wrap the dough not being used in plastic wrap. This will prevent the dough from drying out.

Roll out the dough in a long elongated shape, about ⅛ inch thick. I used my grandmother’s pastry wheel cutter that she brought with her when she immigrated to Canada. You can also use a knife like Maria did (you can see this in the video found in the recipe card).

Now for the fun part.

Take a strip of dough and form it into a rose shape or the classic elongated shape (details on how to achieve this shape are in the video). A video on the details of how I obtained the rose shape can be found on my Instagram account. 

Pictured above are the caragnoli I shaped with my wooden board and stick. It took me a few tries before I was able to easily remove the dough from the stick while maintaining the wonderful pattern. Once I floured my board and rod properly, this issue was resolved.

Whichever caragnoli shape you decide to make, it is important to properly pinch the dough. If making the rose shapes, you must pinch the dough together to reassemble rose petals; when making the more intricate pattern, you must press the dough together with the grooved wooden board. If not done properly, the dough separates as it expands in the hot oil. But not to worry, they may not look perfect, but the taste is out of this world!

As you can see, the use of a fluted pastry wheel will create a pretty pattern.

Next, heat the oil (corn, canola, or peanut) and fry the caragnoli a few at a time. This step literally takes less than 30 seconds per side with the proper temperature. 

If you do not have a thermometer, you can use my grandmother’s wooden stick method. Simply place the tip of a wooden spoon in the oil, if bubbles appear, the right temperature is attained. For those of you that have a thermometer, that would be around 375°F. 

Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a tray that has been lined with paper towels. 

Surprisingly, these caragnoli do not turn out greasy if the oil is properly heated.

The final step involves heating some honey and coating these fritters.  

The end result is an authentic, old-world Italian recipe -a crispy honey-coated fritter that makes a wonderful Christmas treat.

Tips

• There is an ideal time of 30 minutes when making this recipe.
• Heat the oil to the proper temperature to avoid getting greasy Caragnoli. 
• When frying, do not overcrowd the pot -only 2-3 Caragnoli at a time, depending on the size of the pot.
• Coat the Caragnoli with honey once they have cooled off.

How long do Caragnoli last? 

Without the honey, this sweet fried dough can last up to 3 days at room temperature; once honey-coated they are best eaten within 24 hours.

What do Caragnoli taste like?

These simple fritters are crispy, crunchy and sweet.

Fried Italian cookies we love

• Crostoli
• Struffoli
• Screppelle aka Italian Donuts
• Calzoni di ceci

Recipe origins

So by now, you are probably wondering who is Maria? 

Maria is my brother’s mother-in-law. She was born in Montorio nei Frentani, which is a 20 km drive from my grandmother’s birthplace, Ripabottoni.  These small towns are located in the province of Campobasso, located in the youngest region of Italy, Molise.

Maria has maintained the tradition of making these delicious Italian cookies ever since she immigrated to Canada. She still uses the same “board” which was used by her grandmother. In Italian, it is called a fuso and petene. That is to say a rod and a comb.

Maria’s expertise is quickly noticeable as she twists the dough around the rod. You can see how easily Maria shapes her caragnoli in the video (found in the recipe card).

Maria explained to me that her grandfather had a small bee farm in the country where they lived. As a result, there are many Christmas treats from this region that use honey for sweet dishes.

Neighboring villages would shape the Caragnoli in different shapes. My paternal grandmother would shape them in the form of a rose. 

Grazie Maria for sharing your wonderful family recipe with all of us. On behalf of my wonderful friend Maria, Buon Natale a tutti!

THANKS SO MUCH for following and being part of the She Loves Biscotti community where you will find Simple & Tasty Family-Friendly Recipes with an Italian Twist.

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Ciao for now,

Maria 

★★★★★ If you have made this Caragnoli recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!

Recipe