Mostaccioli al Vino Cotto

Mostaccioli

These traditional Calabrian biscuits are delicious.  The taste and smell will have you coming back for more.
Dunk them in coffee.  Wonderful homemade biscuits to give as a gift for any occasions.

Stored in an air tight container they will keep for a month.

Makes about 40 biscuits

Ingredients

1 cup roasted almonds, cooled and then ground finely
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup vino cotto
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
Flour as much as needed (about 5 cups)
Finely grated rind of 1/2 orange
Finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C degrees.

Using an electric beater, beat eggs.   Add vegetable oil, honey and vino cotto to the eggs. Mix well.
Add sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, ground cloves and cinnamon and mix well.   Add ground roasted almonds, finely grated zest of half an orange and half a lemon and mix.

Add 1 cup flour and baking powder and mix well.  Add another cup of flour. Mix well.
Slowly add more flour until one has the consistency of a cookie dough that can easily be rolled out.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for about 1/2 hour.

Divide the dough into quarters, work with one quarter at a time while covering the rest.

Dust your workbench with a little flour and roll out the first half of the dough to about 1 cm thick.   May need to spread some oil on your hands if dough is too sticky.  The traditional shape of these mostaccioli is an ‘S’, then cut the ends in half and twirl them out – this will give you the fancy look.  Alternatively, use a cookie cutter to cut to any shape you prefer.

Place the mostaccioli about an inch apart on baking paper.

Roll out the remaining dough and repeat the process.

Bake the mostaccioli for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until the mostaccioli are a nice golden colour.  They will harden as they cool down.

Cool and place in an airtight container.

If you prefer, these biscuits can be dusted with icing sugar before serving.

Enjoy!

Buy the Vino Cotto you need for this recipe online. Click here.