If you like Italian Christmas Cookies, you will love this recipe for Chestnut Cookies, aka Calzoni di Castagne. A dough envelopes a chestnut, coffee, and chocolate filling that is air fried to perfection.
That’s right!
An air fryer stuffed cookie!
But not just any cookie, a calzoni di castagne cookie.
I can’t stop testing so many of my family’s Italian cookie recipes in my new air fryer.
A few weeks ago. I tried my mom’s recipe for chiacchere napoletane in the air fryer. My family just loved them! If you are interested, come and take a look at these air fryer Italian cookies.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my family recipes for authentic caragnoli, struffoli, screppelle and of course chiacchiere.
There is no denying that these fried Italian cookies are so tasty.
Unfortunately, as a dietitian, I can also tell you that studies continue to demonstrate that eating fried foods is not healthy.
So, to help you decide whether or not to fry them, let me share with you my experience air frying this chestnut recipe.
Mise en place
One day before you plan on “frying” these cookies, prepare the chestnuts.
The most important ingredient in this recipe is the boiled chestnuts. Just click on the link for a step by step process.
You will need about 1 pound of raw fresh chestnuts, with the shells, to get approximately 14 ounces (400 grams) of cooked, peeled chestnuts.
Depending on how fast you remove the chestnut shells, this can be a lengthy process, taking up to 2 hours, so plan accordingly.
On the day you are planning to make these little pillows of deliciousness, prepare the dough and the filling.
To prepare the dough
In a large mixing bowl (of a stand mixer) with the dough hook attachment, combine 500 grams of all-purpose flour (3½ cups), ½ cup of white wine, ½ cup of vegetable oil and ½ cup of water. Beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the sides.
Knead the dough a few times on a wooden board. Place the ball of dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for about 30 minutes.
While waiting, let’s prepare the filling.
To prepare the chestnut filling
In the bowl of a food processor, combine 14 ounces (400 grams) of cooked chestnuts, 7 ounces (200 grams) of good quality dark chocolate (melted), 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of cocoa (dutch processed), 4 tablespoons of room temperature espresso coffee, 4 tablespoons of rum, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, the zest of one small organic orange and a pinch of ground cinnamon.
Process until the mixture forms a thick paste. Keep in mind that as the mixture cools, it will harden a little. If the mixture appears to be on the dry side, add another ½ teaspoon of coffee, process, and access. Keep adding in small increments until you get a pasty texture.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with an open end and set aside. Alternatively, you can portion this chestnut mixture into scant teaspoon portions.
Instructions
Heat the air fryer to 425° F (220° C). My oven has a super convection mode.
Divide the dough into 3½ ounces (100-gram) pieces, this is approximately one-eighth of the dough. Work with one piece of dough while keeping the rest covered.
Flatten the piece so that it fits in the widest setting of your pasta roller.
Start at the widest setting of your pasta roller and begin to thread the dough through the rollers. Fold the piece of dough and pass it through again. Repeat this process 6-8 times (at the widest setting) to remove the air pockets in the dough.
Begin to reduce the thickness until you reach number 4. The higher the number, the thinner the dough. Stretch the dough to a minimum width of 3½ inches wide.
Place the dough on a wooden board. No need to flour the board.
Pipe about a teaspoon of the pureed chestnut mixture at 2-inch increments at the center of the dough. Fold over the top portion of dough over the filling while pushing out the air pockets.
With a serrated cutter, cut each sweet ravioli into a rectangle, roughly 1 x 2½ inches. Gently press the top of the cookie.
The scrapes of dough can be re-rolled if you are careful not to “stain” the dough with the chocolate mixture. Every 3½ ounces section of dough makes about 18 cookies.
Carefully place them in the air fryer basket.
Air fry at 425° F (220° C) for about 4½ minutes or until golden and puffy looking. Remove from the oven and place on a cookie rack to cool completely.
Continue in this manner until all the dough and filling has gone through this process.
Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
The perfect dessert ravioli for your Christmas cookie platter!
Tips
- Divide the dough into sections as this makes it easier to work with.
- Always keep the dough covered as it becomes dry very quickly.
- The “scrapes” of dough can be re-rolled if you are careful not to “stain” the dough with the chocolate mixture.
- Every section of dough (3½ ounces) makes 18 cookies.
- The rum can be replaced with milk.
Can I use vacuum-packed chestnuts?
Yes, you can use either vacuum packed or jarred chestnuts.
Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes, place in a single layer and separate with a sheet of wax paper in a freezable container.
Can I cut the recipe in half?
Yes, very easily.
Italian Cookies we love
Recipe origins
My mom loved chestnuts.
Often in the fall, I would come home from school, and find her peeling boiled chestnuts. We would sit at the kitchen table and snack on them while chatting.
Sometimes, she would transform them into a puree that we would use as a breakfast spread.
My mom also loved to bake with chestnuts.
One of her favorite recipes was my nonna’s caveciuni.
As I remember, this recipe was never made the same way…sometimes ground walnuts would be added, at other times chickpeas. Honey and sugar were often interchanged.
There were eggs in the dough which was shaped in a half-moon and always deep-fried.
My mom made a few changes to the dough. She used my sister-in law’s ravioli/rectangular shape as well as her dough recipe for Chocolate Chick Pea Calzoni. This particular recipe originates from Muro Lucano.
Although these chestnut filled cookies are usually deep-fried, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how tasty these air fryer stuffed chestnut cookies are.
Will I make them again? Absolutely!
I will continue to test this recipe with different fillings.
Just recently, this filling was my inspiration to create a spread for this Christmas star bread.
I also came across a chestnut filling that had raisins in it.
The possibilities are truly endless!
Stay tuned!
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.
Ciao for now,
Maria
★★★★★ If you have made these Chestnut stuffed cookies, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Chestnut Cookies aka Calzoni di Castagne
Ingredients
The Chestnut Filling:
- 14 ounces chestnuts cooked, 400 grams
- ¼ cup sugar granulated
- ¼ cup espresso coffee lukewarm
- ¼ cup rum
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- orange organic, zest
- 7 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate melted, 200 grams
The dough:
- 3½ cups all purpose flour 500 g
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup white wine
- confectioners' or granulated sugar for final dusting
Instructions
The Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl (of a stand mixer) with the dough hook attachment, add all the ingredients for the dough together and beat on medium speed until a ball of dough is formed.
- Remove from the bowl, and knead the dough a few times on a wooden board. Place the ball of dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. While waiting, you can make the chestnut filling.
The Chestnut Filling:
- Place of all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Place in a pastry bag with the bottom cut off.
Making the Chestnut Cookies
- Heat the air fryer to 425° F (220° C). My oven has a super convection mode.
- Divide the dough into 3½ ounces (100-gram) pieces, this is approximately one-eighth of the dough. Work with one piece of dough while keeping the rest covered.
- Flatten the piece so that it fits in the widest setting of your pasta roller.
- Start at the widest setting of your pasta roller and begin to thread the dough through the rollers. Fold the piece of dough and pass it through again. Repeat this process 6-8 times (at the widest setting) to remove the air pockets in the dough.
- Begin to reduce the thickness until you reach number 4. The higher the number, the thinner the dough. Stretch the dough to a minimum width of 3½ inches wide.
- Place the dough on a wooden board. No need to flour the board.
- Pipe about a teaspoon of the pureed chestnut mixture at 2-inch increments at the center of the dough. Fold over the top portion of dough over the filling while pushing out the air pockets.
- With a serrated cutter, cut each mini calzone into a rectangle, roughly 1 x 2½ inches. Gently press the top of the cookie.
- Carefully place them in the air fryer basket.
- Air fry at 425° F (220° C) for about 4½ minutes or until golden and puffy looking. Remove from the oven and place on a cookie rack to cool completely.
- Continue in this manner until all the dough and filling has gone through this process.
- Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Notes
- Divide the dough into sections as this makes it easier to work with.
- Always keep the dough covered as it becomes dry very quickly.
- The "scrapes" of dough can be re-rolled if you are careful not to "stain" the dough with the chocolate mixture.
- Every section of dough (3½ ounces) makes 18 cookies.
Nutrition
Antonietta Di Marco
Maria, once again another successful recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing family recipes with measurements …I have my recipes plus my husbands family recipes and you support them with your website and measurements. Made this chestnut “cookies” and they are the hand me down ones 👍 enjoy your website and most of all sharing my comfort food hand me down cooking.
Maria
Thanks so much, Antonietta! There is nothing like family recipes.
Rose
Your cookies look delicious. I want to try the recipe. Can i bake them instead of frying . I don”t have an air fryer but i do have a convection oven.
Maria
Thanks so much Rose. Although I have not tried, I would think that with some experimentation, a convection oven should work. I would start by baking just a few and adjust the temperature and baking time based on your results. Have fun!
jeanne
this is a really dumb question, but is there any way to make these without an air fryer? How were they made originally, before the invention of the air fryer? They look amazing!
Maria
Thanks for your interest Jeanne. As is briefly mentioned in the article, my mom would deep fry these Chestnut Cookies. My sister in law makes a chickpea filling which she deep-fries. I have also documented her recipe… there is a link in the article if you are interested in seeing how they look. It is great to have choices! Thanks so much for stopping by, appreciate it! Enjoy!
Patricia Sutton
Been making these since I was a child. We called them pastadeda from Stigliano, Italy. My grandmother would make them starting with 20-30 pounds worth of chestnuts. Still my favorite
LexiBites
These cookies look AMAZING! I would have never thought to use chestnuts in a cookie – what a lovely recipe!
Thank you for sharing Maria!
From LexiBites
Maria
My pleasure! I hope you get a chance to try these chestnut cookies! Thanks so much for stopping by, appreciate it!