Chestnut Chocolate Italian Christmas Pillow Cookie Recipes

CHOCOLATE-CHESTNUT TORTELLI (CHRISTMAS COOKIES)

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Blend the chestnuts, sugar and salt in a food processor until the chestnuts are finely ground. Add the rum, cocoa, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Blend until the filling is almost smooth, scraping down the work bowl as necessary. Add the chocolate chips and pulse until combined. (Can be made 2 days in advance).
• Working with 1 pie crust at a time, unroll the pie crusts on a work surface and, using a 3-inch round cutter, cut out 10 rounds from each crust. Brush the pastry rounds with the beaten egg to cover. Drop 1 generous teaspoon of the filling into the center of each round. Fold half of the dough over the filling and seal to make a half-circle shape. Brush the top of the tortelli with the beaten egg. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crisp, 15 to 17 minutes.
• Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

CHESTNUT CHOCOLATE ITALIAN CHRISTMAS PILLOW COOKIE

Steps:

• 1. Center your oven rack in over and preheat to 425 degrees Line a rimmed large cookie sheet with parchment paper
• 2. Place sugar, cocoa and chestnuts in food processor and blend until chestnuts are finely ground. Then add cinnamon, cloves ginger, and rum. Pulse until smooth, scraping down sides of processor as necessary. Add chocolate chips, and pulse until combined.
• 3. Unroll room temperature pie crusts on a work surface and, using a 3-inch round cutter, cut out 10 rounds from each crust. Work one pie crust at a time. Brush the pastry rounds with the beaten egg to cover.
• 4. Drop 1 generous teaspoon of the filling into the center of each round. Fold half of the dough over the filling and seal to make a half-circle shape. Brush the top of the half-circle closed dough with the beaten egg. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crisp, 15 to 17 minutes.
• 5. Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients for cookies in a large bowl. Roll into balls (slightly smaller than a golf ball) and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Step 2 Set cookies on cookie rack and let cool completely. In a medium bowl, combine confectioner's sugar with vanilla. Pour a tablespoon of water into the bowl at a time and stir, repeating the process until you have a thick consistency for the glaze. Dip the cooled cookies into the glaze and place on the cookie rack to wait for glaze to harden. Sprinkle nonpareils before the glaze hardens. Step 3 Store in Tupperware or cookie tins.

CHESTNUT CREAM COOKIES - PASTATELLE

Steps:

• Make the Dough: In a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the olive oil, vanilla powder and baking powder. Mix well. Add the sugar and mix well. Little by little add the flour and let it absorb all the liquids. Move the dough to a wood board and continue to knead until it forms a uniform ball. Enclose the dough in plastic paper and let it rest for about 20 mins. Re-work the dough once again and let it rest for another 15 mins. Make the Chestnut Cream: If you are using fresh Chestnuts, first boil them and once they are cooked, remove the paste from all of them and put it in a food processor to get a smooth paste. Otherwise, you can use Chestnut flour. In a pan, add the dark chocolate, honey, orange zest and the cacao. On low flame let the chocolate melt and mix with all the ingredients. Add the chestnuts and mix well until you have a firm cream. Let it cool. Make the Pastatelle: Cut a piece of dough and flatten it with a rollinh pin. Make the dough very thin. Place a Tsp of Chestnut Cream on the dough and cover it with another layer of dough as if you were making a raviolo. Press the dough down to remove the air from inside the cookie and with a large shot glass or a ravioli stamp cut out the cookie from the dough. Make all your cookies. Once they are all made, they can be either baked at 350F for 20 mins. or they can be deep fried. Serve with powder sugar on top.