My Mom would love to make this Deluxe Pets de Soeur Recipe, especially at Christmastime. But what exactly are these cookies?

Well, appearance-wise, these pets de soeur look like mini-cinnamon pastry pinwheels.

This rural French-Canadian culinary tradition was made with leftover tourtière or pie dough.

The rolled-out dough would get a sprinkle of brown sugar, cinnamon and butter; they would then be rolled up, sliced and baked.

Fast forward to today, where a deluxe version can be made with currants, nuts and coconut.

I’ve always been a little intrigued (who wouldn’t be, right?) with a name like pets de soeur, which means farts of holy sisters.

With a little imagination, one can only begin to ponder how such a name could have been given to such a frugal treat.

We will never really know the true origins of this name, but one thing is for sure, it catches your attention and someone had a really good sense of humor.

Recipe origin

You might be wondering what a first-generation Italian Canadian is doing with a traditional French Canadian recipe.

Let’s see if you can follow the bouncing ball. My Aunt Andrée (my dad’s sister-in-law) shared this recipe for pets de soeur with my Mom. My Aunt Andrée got this recipe from her husband’s (my Uncle Joe) aunt, ma Tante Marie.

So, the origins of this recipe can be traced to my grandfather’s sister-in-law. Ma Tante Marie was born and raised in Quebec at the turn of the twentieth century.

My mother adored ma Tante Marie and she loved this cookie recipe.

We all loved this recipe and still to this day, whenever I make this recipe, a few of us are still trying to be the first ones to grab the ends of these pets de soeur (no pun intended).

My Mom would make this recipe at least once a month. It was easy to make and a great recipe to have on hand when family and friends would just pop in to say hello. At Christmas time, an extra batch would always be made.

I can’t help but remember how much my Mom would enjoy making this special treat for her loved ones. I will be eternally grateful to my great aunt Marie, for sharing her family recipe so many decades ago.

So now you know about a French-Canadian recipe named farts of holy sisters…Deluxe Pets de Soeur Recipe!

This post is dedicated to the memory of my loving Mom.

Tanti auguri mamma!

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.

And if you are new here, welcome! You may want to sign up for my weekly e-mail newsletter. This way, you won’t miss any of my new recipes.

Ciao for now,

Maria

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

Recipe

A cookie tin of the pets de soeur cookies is shown.

Deluxe Pets de Soeur Recipe

This Deluxe Pets de Soeur Recipe is based on a rural French-Canadian culinary tradition which literally translates as farts of holy sisters. Intrigued?

5 from 5 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French-Canadian

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 55

Servings: cookies

Calories: 113kcal

Author: Maria Vannelli RD

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Ingredients

The dough (part 1):

4 cups all purpose flour + extra for cutting board
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

The filling:

¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons butter room temperature
½ cup medium desiccated unsweetened coconut
¼ cup currants
¼ cup walnuts finely chopped

The dough (part 2):

3 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Instructions

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 ° F (190 °C).
In a large mixing bowl, sift together 4 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling. With your fingertips, work the butter in this mixture. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl (of stand mixer) fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs on medium-high speed until nice and frothy (about 2-3 minutes).
Add the oil and vanilla extract. Continue to whisk until well combined.
Switch to paddle attachment.
Alternate addition of flour mixture and milk (in 2 additions). Mix on low speed until combined.
Separate mixture in half.
Place one half of mixture on a floured board (this is a sticky dough so make sure your board and rolling pin are well floured).
Roll out dough until you get an 16 x 10 inch rectangle about ¼ to ½ inch thick.
Spread half the mixture over the rolled out dough.
Roll into a tight log, starting with the long side.
Slice the cookies about ¼ to ½ inch thick.
Place slices flat down on parchment lined baking sheets,
Bake for about 10 minutes at 375° F (190°C), then lower to heat to 350° F (175° C) for another 12-15 minutes or until golden.
While first batch of cookies are baking, repeat procedure to make second set of cookies.
Transfer baked cookies to wire rack to cool.
Can be stored in an airtight container for a few days or frozen until needed.

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Notes

Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is just a rough estimate and variations can occur depending on the specific ingredients used.

Nutrition