Lard Torcetti

 

Italian simple vintage twist cookies. Lard makes them flaky, crunchy, and they are just sweet enough! Irresistible!

 

Italian vintage cookies, these Lard Torcetti are perfect for any occasion; weekday snack, Sunday afternoon coffee, holidays, gift …. Just name it.

They are not of fancy kind. Not at all. They are simple and tasty.
There is a short list of simple, available ingredients that everybody had or got by exchanging the stocks before, during and after Second World War.

 

Let me give you an example: if my grandmother was asked to make a wedding cake for a girl in their village, she got a batch of wheat or lard to compensate her work.
That way, everybody had what was needed to keep the community alive and safe. Also it helped them all to grow together and stay alive until sunny days.

 

There is a story behind these sweet bread sticks and it goes like this : Piedmont baker had some bread dough leftovers, made bread sticks, twisted into a drop shape, rolled in sugar and baked.

The result was a batch of crunchy and soft torcetti cookies. Torcere in Italian means “to twist” so these are “twisted” homemade dry yeast amazingly tasty cookies.

This version has lard in them instead of butter.

Lard makes breads and yeast cookies flakier, puff pastry alike, crunchy on the outside but soft inside, due to lard’s unique large and stable fat crystals.

Have I told you how my grandmother was hiding lard during the war? My mother tells me she kept it in the wine barrels. It was one of her tricks that helped to feed the whole family and had some extra for tramps. What a girl !

So, influenced by my grandmother,  I don’t keep the lard in barrels ha ha ha,  but I use lard more and more to prepare food.

By lard, I mean no-smell-of-any-kind lard so it makes it really possible to use it both for savoury and sweet dishes.

Lard Torcetti are easily done, tasty, soft, tender and flaky cookies that stay fresh for five days if kept in airtight container.

We both enjoy them as dessert or snack, and I pack some for my office as well; we have one after breakfast to satisfy our sweet tooth before we start running through the day so one batch never lasts long at our home.

I hope you’ll enjoy these low sugar bites and I believe you’ll keep this recipe for the holidays to come. Pinning is always welcome; needless to say. 😊