Italian Chocolate Spiced Cookies (Tetù)
Soft chocolate spiced cookies dotted with walnuts and topped with a sweet sugar glaze. A classic Sicilian cookie recipe found on cookie platters at nearly every Italian gathering. And a favourite treat enjoyed with morning coffee.
Servings: 60 cookies
Calories: 96kcal
Ingredients
Chocolate Spiced Cookies
- 1 cup hot coffee
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 4 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ lb shortening
Sugar Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- Mix the sugar and hot coffee together in a small bowl until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, allspice, cinnamon and cloves together.
- Add the shortening to the bowl of sifted dry ingredients and cut the shortening into the dry ingredients. Use your hands and the "rub-in" method by rubbing handfuls of the dry ingredients between your thumbs and fingertips to create thin ripples of shortening mixed with the dry cookie mix. When done there should be small ripples or pebbles of shortening to look like coarse oatmeal.
- Gradually mix the chilled coffee liquid into the dry ingredients until moistened and combined well.
- Stir in the walnuts.
- Roll a tablespoon of cookie dough into a ball and place it on a parchment-lined or non-stick cookie sheet, filling it with a dozen evenly spaced. Bake for 10-12 minutes until firm to the touch and with small cracks just starting to form on the top of the cookies. Do not overbake or they will dry out. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. Repeat until all of the cookies are baked.
- Once the cookies are cooled, mix the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Use a basting brush to spread the glaze on the top of the cookies. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Storage:
Let the glazed cookies set for 30 minutes before storing to allow the glaze to harden. Then store the cookies in a tighly sealed container on the counter for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw to room temperature before serving.
Freezing Before Baking:
To freeze the cookies unbaked, first roll them into balls and then freeze in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 months. Pull out what you with to bake and allow the cookies to come to room temperature before baking.
Substitutions:
The walnuts can be left out or replaced with chopped almonds, pistachios, raisins, chocolate chips or a combination of these.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 96kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 0.05mg | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 24mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg