Italian-style Christmas cookies are pretty, festive and easy

Sun Sentinel (MCT) - The holidays are a busy time for Elisa Gismondi-Tufano. As pastry chef at her family's restaurant, Arturo's in Boca Raton, Fla., she is responsible for making the 16 to 20 varieties of Christmas cookies that grace the multi-tiered dessert cart.

By the end of a busy holiday week, she's rolled and shaped about 2,700 of them.

She comes by her cookie baking rightly. Her family has its roots in Sora, Italy. It's a town about 1 ˝ hours west of Rome that is known for its cookie bakers. In fact, the women in different parts of the town keep their recipes secret from those in other parts, she says. She's collected many of her recipes during the family's annual three-week summer visits to relatives.

Some of the recipes she shares with us she had to translate from Italian, changing grams into cups and tablespoons and substituting for ingredients that she brings back with her but are unavailable in this country.

The first thing we learn about Italian cookies is that they are called biscotti. "That's the overall general term," she says. Those sliced and twice-baked cookies some people call biscotti are actually called cantucci, she explains.

Try her Cantucci Natalizie con Ciliegie Candite, which translates to Twice-Baked Christmas Cookies with Candied Cherries. Even those who don't like the red and green candied orbs will enjoy these slightly lemon-flavored, crunchy cakes with just a hint of anisette.

Another thing you'll discover is that Italian cookies can be quite healthful. Take her Ciambelline All'Anice E Vino, a recipe she got from her Zia Anna, her mother's aunt who lives in Sora. They are made with olive oil instead of butter and don't contain eggs or milk. Studded with anise seeds, these are designed to be savored with a glass of dessert wine or with what's left in your wine glass after your meal.

You'll also notice that Italians don't use pecans because they don't have them, Gismondi-Tufano explains. Look at her Le Lune Piene, or The Full Moons, a recipe she translated from one of her grandmother's cookbooks. Made with your choice of hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds, they are shaped into balls or crescents. Then the warm cookies are coated with confectioners' sugar that melts into a glaze.

Le Tre Spezzie, or The Three Spices, is a recipe she got from Enza Mecca, who you may recognize as one of the original owners of Mecca Farms in Lake Worth. A Sicilian by heritage, Mrs. Mecca, as Gismondi-Tufano calls her, had this recipe that is dark and rich with cloves, ginger, cinnamon and espresso as it's made moist with raspberry jam.

"It lets you make something that will remind you of gingerbread without having to make those little men," Gismondi-Tufano says. The brown dough isn't too appetizing to look at, but once you roll it into balls, bake it, dip it in white glaze and drizzle it with chocolate glaze, you are ready to savor this very adult treat.

Just be forewarned. Italians don't like their cookies as sweet as Americans do, Gismondi-Tufano says. After all, they don't have brown sugar in their larders, and they use less white sugar. These spice cookies are proof.

Her Stelle di Natale (Christmas Stars) recipe is from the chefs at the Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, Italy. This is where she spent her five-month internship while a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

"I was the only girl among 40 men in the kitchen, and they treated me like gold," she says. While there, she learned to make fondant roses and mastered souffles, two skills she still uses at Arturo's.

This is a good dough to cut into shapes because it doesn't puff up when baked. She cuts her cookies into stars that she dips in chocolate and sprinkles with colorful non-pareils. Children can cut them into whatever shapes they like, says Gismondi-Tufano, the mother of 2 ˝-year-old Alessandro.

Although Arturo's is truly a family affair _ her sister Giulia, 28, assists mother Rosario with catering and banquets; sister Roberta, 18, helps during the holidays when she's home from Florida State Univeristy; Sabrina, 17, makes the best espresso and cappucino and also helps hostess; and dad Vincenzo keeps an eye on everyone _ Gismondi-Tufano, 39, hopes to branch out.

"I want to do something with my biscotti," she says. And you'll understand why after you try some of her recipes. "People have heard of these things I make, but some of them you can't find anyplace else but Italy," she says.

CANTUCCI NATALIZIE CON CILIEGIE CANDITE (Twice-baked Christmas cookies with candied cherries)

2 Ľ cups all purpose flour

1 ˝ teaspoon baking powder

1 Ľ cups sugar

1 cup whole almonds with skins, roughly chopped

˝ cup whole candied red cherries

˝ cup whole candied green cherries

3 whole eggs, lightly beaten

4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

2 tablespoons anisette (Sambuca or Marie Brizzard)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract or 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 16-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, almonds and cherries.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, melted butter, anisette and extracts. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix well. The dough will be sticky. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into two mounds.

Form dough into two 15-inch-long logs and transfer with the help of a spatula to the prepared pan, placing them about 2 inches apart. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, then, using a serrated knife, carefully cut each log crosswise into 15 (about ľ-inch-wide) pieces. Place on parchment on baking pan and bake 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely and store in an air-tight container at room temperature. Makes 30 cookies.

Per cookie: 125 calories, 36 percent calories from fat, 5 grams total fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 29 milligrams cholesterol, 18 grams carbohydrates, .7 gram total fiber, 11 grams total sugars, 17 grams net carbs, 2 grams protein, 27 milligrams sodium.

LE LUNE PIENE (The Full Moons)

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar, divided

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

Ľ teaspoon salt

1 cup hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, ˝ cup confectioners' sugar and vanilla until light.

Then add the flour, salt and nuts. Mix until a dough forms. Take some dough and roll into a long rope that is 1 inch in diameter. With a knife, cut the rope into 2-inch pieces. Roll each piece into a ball or shape into a crescent. Place on prepared pans.

Repeat until all dough is rolled, cut and shaped.

Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove from oven and generously sift confectioners' sugar over the cookies. The sugar will slightly melt to form a glaze. Cool completely and sift sugar over cookies again. Makes 33 cookies.

Per cookie: 110 calories, 61 percent calories from fat, 8 grams total fat, .9 gram saturated fat, no cholesterol, 10 grams carbohydrates, .5 gram total fiber, 4 grams total sugars, 9 grams net carbs, 1 gram protein, 18 milligrams sodium.

LE TRE SPEZZIE (The Three Spices)

A great winter cookie with lots of flavor and depth. These are not for kids because they have a very adult taste.

Cookie Batter:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

Ľ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

ľ cup rough-chopped walnuts

ľ cup raisins

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange extract

1 egg

Ľ cup brewed espresso coffee

Ľ cup raspberry jam

Sugar Glaze:

3 cups confectioners' sugar

Ľ cup milk plus more as needed

˝ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, optional

To make batter: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, cocoa, nuts and raisins.

In a smaller bowl, mix the butter, extracts, egg, coffee and jam. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture. Knead with your hands until a dough forms. Shape into balls that are 1 ˝ inches in diameter and place 1 inch apart on prepared pans.

Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until the cookies come away from the paper. Let cool completely.

To make glaze: Place the confectioners' sugar in a bowl and add Ľ cup milk to make a thick glaze into which you can dip cookies. If mixture is too thick, add more milk drop by drop until proper consistency is reached. Dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze to coat; shake off any excess.

Return cookies to pans and let sit until icing sets. If there is icing leftover after dipping the cookies, add cocoa powder to make chocolate icing. With a fork, drizzle the chocolate icing onto the cookies. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Per cookie: 130 calories, 4 percent calories from fat, 2 grams total fat, 12 grams saturated fat, 22 milligrams cholesterol, 22 grams carbohydrates, .8 gram total fiber, 16 grams total sugars, 21 grams net carbs, 2 grams protein, 93 milligrams sodium.

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