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
Deluxe Pets de Soeur Recipe
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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.
Notes
Nutrition
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Anne Huval
I’m of French heritage. I live in South Louisiana. Both my father and grandfather were bakers. But this recipe and it’s funny name is SO French. I grew up hearing the French language. My mother and grandmother would both say things in French and then laugh. They kept their funny and dirty jokes to themselves.when I would ask what the joke was they would explain it in English but it didn’t quite have the same funniness The Cajun French culture has a long history of not wasting food. This is so on target.
Diane Smith
My husband is in the kitchen rolling out the dough the easy method, he combined pie shells he bought from the freezer section of the grocery store to make meat pies, had extra shells left over and let them thaw out to make these “Pété des soeurs” (of more than one nun). I thank my best girlfriend for having shown us how easy it is to make pies with the store bought frozen pie shells–Sue Charette-Harris you were amazing!
The word Pet is an English word that people are using which means a pet, i.e., cat, dog or other family pet.
The word “pété” (to have farted) is the French word when translated to English means “having farted” “break out” “bust”, etc.
Maria
Thanks so much for sharing and stopping by Diane!
Amanda
I have not made your version of this recipe, but my grandparents and their generation on my mother’s side are all French canadian. This recipe is a Christmas tradition. However, we always call them belly buttons of a nun. A different translation I guess. Regardless, I will have to try this variation
Typically we just do the brown sugar. cinnamon, butter filling. Thanks for the idea.
Maria
Thanks Amanda. So many creative names for this wonderful cookie. Thanks for taking the time to comment, appreciate it.
Diane Galambos
Hi Maria, will plan to make this in memory of your Mom. hugs!
Maria
Thanks Diane 🙂
Kaitie
These look absolutely delicious!! I will have to make them next time company comes over 🙂
Maria
Great to hear! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Colleen
Haha, I just love the name of these delicious morsels. My French Canadian Mom used to make us a similar one growing up, and this makes me miss her. I will be trying these soon, thanks for posting!
Maria
I know exactly how you feel Colleen. I think that food is not only a vehicle that unifies us, it keeps the memories of our loved ones alive 🙂 Thanks for stopping by ♥
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
I had never heard of this recipe with such a funny name, but I love it! Those flavors wrapped in that beautiful dough, what’s not to love? Your mom would be proud. Happy birthday to her, I’m sure she is smiling lovingly down at you <3 .
Maria
Thanks Nicoletta. This little baked pastry is truly a treat. Thanks for dropping by ♥♥♥
Gabrielle @ eyecandypopper
I was never a big sweet person growing up, but I loved pet de soeur growing up in QC, so this is really intriguing to me since I’ve never tried making it myself. I will pin this to give it a try later. Thanks for sharing!
Maria
My pleasure Gabrielle. Hope you get a chance to try it 🙂
Louise Illian
Searched for French Canadian Christmas cookies and was shocked to see “nun’s farts “ , a tradition in my grandmother (Memere) house. That and Sucre a la creme. I’m glad to have your recipe and will make it soon. Thanks for the memories.
Maria
My pleasure Louise! Thanks so much for sharing!
Diane
Que de souvenirs …
Merci Maria!!
Maria
🙂 🙂 🙂
Mychele
Mary,
You know I look at your recipes on a weekly basis, and have tried many. I thank you for that. But tonight was special as I found the recipe for one of my mother in law’s famous cookies. Thank you so much. I am so excited to try this recipe.
I will let you know if I do a good job, and make them as good as I remember hers. They were so delicious. Thank you.
Mychele
Maria
Hi Mychele
I have so many wonderful memories when I think of this recipe and my mom. I hope I was able to interpret the ingredients as they were written by my mom to duplicate your mother-in-laws’ pets de soeur.
I am also excited for you! I am sure you will do a great job!
Thank you Mychele for your support and taking the time to comment 🙂