Biscotti di San Martino Recipe

Basket filled with biscotti di San Martino surrounded by wine glass, grapes and leaves.

Biscotti di San Martino Recipe

Biscotti di San Martino are buttery and flavored with fragrant anise seed and cinnamon. These traditional Sicilian cookies are enjoyed on November 11th, for St-Martin's Day, to celebrate the tasting of the new wine!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Sicilian-Italian

Keyword Sicilian anise seed cookies

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Resting time 4

Servings cookies

Calories 191kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

1 packet active dry yeast 7 grams
¾ cup + 2 tbsp. water
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp anise seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the dough

Heat water until lukewarm, transfer to a bowl and add yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour; sugar; anise seed; cinnamon; and salt.
Add the cubed butter and process until the butter is incorporated in the flour mixture.
Switch the paddle attachment for the dough hook, pour in the yeast mixture and knead on medium speed for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
If the dough is too dry add a spoonful of water or two until all the flour is incorporated into the dough. Shape into a ball, cover and let rise for 3 hours in a warm and draft-free part of your kitchen.

Shape the cookies

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
After the dough has proofed, use a kitchen scale to divide it into 16, -60 gram balls. Keep the dough covered while you shape each cookie in order to prevent it from drying out.
Roll each ball into a rope about 25 cm long and 2 cm wide.
Do not flour your work surface. If the dough is dry and is difficult to roll, keep a small bowl of water handy and lightly wet your fingertips.
Roll the rope onto itself in the shape of a snail. Tuck the end underneath in order to prevent the cookie from unraveling during baking.
Continue with the remaining dough. Cover the baking sheets and let rise for one hour.

Bake

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes until golden both underneath and on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

Notes

Substitutions and Variations

-Ground anise seed may be used in place of whole anise.
-Fennel seeds may be substituted for anise seed.
-Lard is traditionally used in these cookies, however I used butter instead.
-For the drier, crisper version of these cookies: bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven for 2 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 10-15 minutes longer. If they darken quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of parchment or foil. Turn off the oven, leave the door slightly ajar and let cool completely before removing from the oven.

Can these cookies be made without a stand mixer?

-Place the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
-Cut in the chilled butter with your fingertips or a pastry cutter.
-Pour in the yeast mixture and knead until until you have a smooth dough, about 10 minutes.

To serve

-Enjoy the soft baked cookies cut in half and covered with sweetened ricotta cream, as in this cannoli recipe.
-Serve the dry baked cookies with a glass of wine or sweet Moscato.

Storage

-The softer baked cookies can be stored, well sealed, at room temperature for up to 3 days. However, for the best texture they are best enjoyed the same day.
-The longer baked, dry cookies can be kept at room temperature fo up to 5 days.
-San Martino cookies (both varieties) can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to one month.

Nutrition