Would you like an almond-based, dense, nutty, honey-flavored, lightly spiced, dark chocolate coated cookie? If you said yes, these traditional Italian Mostaccioli di Mamma cookies are a must for your Christmas holiday cookie platter.
This recipe was originally published on December 21, 2014 and republished on December 9, 2017 with updated content, photos and a video.
Mostaccioli
Mostaccioli are Christmas cookies which are extremely popular in southern Italy, particularly among Neapolitans. As is usually the case with regional Italian cooking, you will find endless variations. Today, I would like to share my version which I have called Mostaccioli di Mamma.
The whole process of making these cookies begins by grinding about one pound of almonds, skin on and not roasted. The texture we are looking for is coarsely ground. This will provide a cookie where fragments of almonds are visible.
We then need to incorporate these ground almonds with the dry ingredients which have been sifted together.
As far as the liquid ingredients are concerned, it is simply a question of slowly whipping up the ingredients together, one by one in your stand mixer. The addition of a pound of honey confirms that these are definitely a chocolaty honey cookie.
Here comes the fun part!
With the help of a large serving wooden spoon, transfer some dough on a well floured wooden board and roll out the dough to about ¼-1/2 inch thickness. This is a soft dough to work with but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier. If you are having a hard time, you can refrigerate the dough for 10-15 minutes. The dough will then be easier to roll as it gets a lot firmer.
These Mostaccioli di Mamma are definitively not your typical cookie. To begin with, they have a very distinct rhombus shape, so we are going to use a cookie cutter to guide us in order for the cookies to have the same shape.
Once they have baked and cooled, it is time for the icing.
Part of what makes these mostaccioli so irresistible is the combination of the dark chocolate coating, the spices and the honey. Make sure to use a high-quality chocolate as this will make a big difference in the overall quality of the cookie.
ORIGINS OF THE RECIPE FOR Mostaccioli:
I was extremely privileged to be raised in a family where Italian traditions, especially food traditions, were extremely important. As such, there was such a frenzy surrounding any holiday period… with Easter it was all about the fiadone and rice ricotta cakes; on Saint Joseph Day we had this special pasta and of course these Zeppole di San Giuseppe; and then, there was Christmas 🙂 (just click on the the word Christmas and you will be directed to the recipe index of Christmas recipes on this site).
Both my parents originated from the South of Italy. My mom’s birthplace was Molinare (Benevento) and my dad was from Ripabottoni (Campobasso) and so, you can well imagine all the wonderful food I grew up with. Naturally I had my favorites, which I will continue to document and share with all of you.
This recipe for Mostaccioli di Mamma would always be made by my mom at Christmas time. I have seen (and tried) many variations of Mostaccioli. To this day, this is still one of my favorite cookies.
Over the years, I have made a few really minor changes to the recipe. I increased both the amount of flour and orange juice which resulted in a softer textured cookie.
As far as the icing is concerned, my mom preferred a very simple chocolate glaze. I have taken to liberty to coat the entire mostaccioli cookie with dark chocolate.
I am quite confident that you would enjoy this traditional Italian Mostaccioli di Mamma cookies with a nice cup of coffee… or espresso, or tea, or milk, or just about any beverage!!!
I truly hope you enjoy making and eating this wonderful Southern Italian cookie.
Gotta go, the coffee is ready!
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 this Mostaccioli recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Recipe
Mostaccioli di Mamma
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Ingredients
- 5½ cups all purpose flour 780 grams
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 oz unsweetened cocoa powder ⅔ cup
- 1 pound coarsely ground almond 3 ½ cups
- 6 eggs extra large, room temperature
- 1 pound honey 1 ⅓ cups, slight warmed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 2 oranges
- juice of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Good quality chocolate for glazing. I prefer a bittersweet chocolate...at least 70%
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Position rack in the center.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients. (flour, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and cocoa).
- Add ground almonds and incorporate with the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs for 2-3 minutes.
- Add honey. Continue to whisk until well thickened.
- Add sugar. Beat well.
- Add orange zest, juice and extract.
- Switch to paddle attachment. Add flour mixture until just combined. (Dough will be soft and sticky).
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will make it easier to roll out. You can also leave it to rest overnight for convenience.
- Working with dough in small batches, place on well-floured wooden board and roll out to ¼ - ½" thick.
- With a rhombus-shaped cutter or with a knife cut dough (I use a 2-inch cutter).
- Place on cookie sheets.
- Continue until all the dough has been shaped. Leftover dough trimmings can be re-rolled.
- Bake at 350° F for about 15-18 minutes or until firm to touch.
- Let cool completely before glazing with chocolate.
Video
Notes
Can be stored in an airtight container, in a cool place for weeks. 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
Roberta
I want to make these tomorrow. Could I use almond meal instead of grinding almonds? Also I only have large eggs. Do I use the same number of eggs or should I add an additional large egg (for a total of 7 large eggs.
Maria
Hi Roberta, Unfortunately, I have not tried to make this recipe with almond meal… I am sure it is possible to get the right consistency of the dough, but I would have to test it. Same for the eggs. I don’t feel comfortable saying it is possible without testing it out as these are very expensive ingredients. Thanks for stopping by.
Jane
Cookies are great the same family receipe but my problem was that some of the cookies went flat after they come out of the oven and i don’t know what could have caused this to happen.
Maria
Thanks for reaching out Jane. So sorry to hear this. I have 2 thoughts. The first is the oven… have you ever had issues with it? The other thing that comes to mind is the freshness of the baking powder. Hope that can help you out.
Anna Pizzi
Hi Maria, I am very happy to have found this simple recipe for these cookies. I had one that was so complicated with Cooked grape juice (mosto) instead of OJ. I imagine these will be good – they’re on my list for this year! My father too is from Campobasso (Guglionesi) so I think it comes from that area.
Maria
Thanks so much for stopping by Anna! Enjoy!
Carmela Marchica
The best!!!! First time making them and they were by far the best I ever had. Thank you Maria
Maria
So thrilled to read this! Thanks so much Carmela!
Rosemarie
Hi Maria
I tried your recipe for the first time today. They came out great!! Brought back memories of my childhood Christmas!! I actually made the dough last night and refrigerated it until morning. I didn’t have to add any flour except for rolling. I do have a question on how you fill your flour cups. Do you spoon flour into the cup and level or do you just scoop with the measuring cup ?
Maria
Thanks Rosemarie! Refrigerating the dough actually makes it so much easier to work with.
I have gotten into the habit of weighing flour. That being said, my method has always been to fluff the flour, scoop and then level off.
Liana
I tried your recipe after a friend passed it on and found it to be great and very easy to make. The dough came together quickly, although I had to add a little more flour to stop it from sticking. Yummy! This is my forever recipe going forward ! Thank-you!
Maria
How wonderful Liana. I agree, it is a sticky dough to work with but it really is so worth it!
Maureen
Hi Maria!
Recipe looks very good, distinctive! Can it be halved without compromising quality.
Thanks!
Maria
Thanks for your interest Maureen. Although I have never tried, it should be okay. Enjoy!
Jay B
Loved the Amaretti cookies but having trouble with these…hope you can help! I weighed everything but maybe there was too much juice out of my orange (1/2 c)? Dough was more of a batter than a dough, and I had to add 300g more flour in order to be able to handle it, and to look like your video. Unfortunately the result is that the cookies don’t have much taste. Hoping you can give me the grams/cups for the orange juice, but if you can add grams for the other items (cocoa, almond mix, honey, and OJ) I would greatly appreciate it!
Maria
Thanks for reaching out Jay. Sorry to read you had trouble with the recipe. I usually start my holiday baking at the end of November. These cookies freeze wonderfully without the glaze. I will be sure to update the recipe with grams at that time.
Liz
Can I freeze the dough?
Maria
Thanks for your interest Liz. Unfortunately, I have never tried to freeze the dough. The baked cookies freeze wonderfully.
G
It’s a bit of a struggle for me to read my Nonna’s recipe so I use this instead and it tastes exactly the same 🙂 SO HAPPY! Make it every christmas. thank you <3 My grandparents were also from Molise so that might have something to do with it!
Maria
I am so thrilled to read this! Thanks so much for sharing. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Rose Falocco
Hi Maria, I found you on a Google search. I’m originally from Montreal, but have been living in US for over 30 years. My parents were both from Campobasso, I still have family there. Before I read about you while looking at your recipes I thought for sure you were from my part of Italy 🇮🇹. How awesome! Thank you for sharing these traditional Italian Christmas recipes.
MaryAnne
Thank you for sharing this recipe. The aroma from all of the ingredients while baking was wonderful. My father is Italian and I love finding recipes to try and share with him. I was born after my Italian grandmother passed away so I only have a few family recipes from my father’s sisters. I love this cookie and hope that my dad will as well. Buon Natale.
Maria
How wonderful MaryAnne! Buon Natale to you and your loved ones!