Susumelle Calabresi

This Christmas we’re celebrating classic Italian Christmas Cookies! All recipes that require all purpose flour I’ve adjusted to make gluten-free using Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 GF flour. Gluten-free dough tends to dry out, so these recipes have been adapted accordingly. If you’re using regular flour, you’ll likely need less added moisture. Pay attention to texture, not the numbers and go with your gut.

Day One

Susumelle Calabresi

(makes about a dozen)

A firm honey and cocoa spiced cookie served around Christmas in the Calabria region of Italy (the very tip of the boot). This recipe is reminiscent of ancient Roman and Greek recipes where honey was used as the primary sweetener. Its cousin, the mostaccioli is a similar cookie but swaps it for molasses. Susumelle or pitte de San Martino, are traditionally paired with espresso or a sweet wine to dip them in, as they are hard like a biscotti. They have been known to be good teething biscuit & they’re savored because of their long shelf life...up to 2 weeks or even a month! They are traditionally cut into ovals and dipped in a sugar glaze or dark chocolate. These cookies easily adapt to dairy-free or even vegan if you use a plant-based milk and you could easily substitute molasses, agave or maple syrup for the honey.

Heat 40g honey with a splash of water until its boiling.

In a bowl Mix:

100g flour

Dash of cinnamon & salt (I like my sweets a little salty so I used about 1 tsp)

(add orange zest, cloves or nutmeg for more flavors)

10g cocoa powder (about 1 Tbsp)

40g sugar

Add hot honey, Mix with a wooden spoon, rubber spatula or your hands.

Add about 2-3 Tbsp of milk until a soft dough forms. (You can also use more water for this step)

Roll dough out with cocoa powder or flour, in between parchment if it's too sticky…roll it out about as thin as sugar cookies.

Bake at 350* 12-15 minutes

Dip ‘em in chocolate or glaze when they cool, then dip ‘em in coffee or wine and enjoy!

Especially delicious with a magazine on a Sunday afternoon!