Canestrelli (Italian Egg Yolk Cookies)
Canestrelli are delicate Italian butter cookies made with hard boiled egg yolks. The yolks give these cookies an especially tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture, while lemon zest and vanilla add a subtle, fresh flavor. They're light and crisp around the edges, with a wonderfully delicate crumb.
Servings 32 cookies - 2 inch (5 centimeter) diameter
Ingredients
- 3 large egg yolks hard boiled (cooking instructions included)
- 135 grams (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) all purpose flour
- 96 grams (¾ cup) cornstarch sifted
- 75 grams (½ cup + 2 Tablespoons) powdered sugar sifted
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal
- 156 grams (⅔ cup; 11 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 5 mL vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place 3 large eggs in a medium sized sauce pot. Fill with water to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) above eggs. Cover pot and bring to a boil. As soon as water boils, turn off burner and remove pot from heat (leave covered.) Set timer for 12 minutes. When timer goes off, drain eggs and place in cold water (or an ice bath) to stop cooking. Once cooled, peel eggs, separate white from yolks, and reserve yolks.
- To the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, cornstarch, powdered sugar, lemon zest and salt. Pulse briefly until dry ingredients are combined and zest is finely chopped.135 grams (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) all purpose flour, 96 grams (¾ cup) cornstarch, 75 grams (½ cup + 2 Tablespoons) powdered sugar, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Add butter and vanilla and pulse a few times until dough resembles coarse sand. Using a spoon, push the egg yolks through a fine mesh sieve into the dough. Once finished, be sure to scrape the bottom of the sieve to loosen any yolk that remains stuck.156 grams (⅔ cup; 11 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, 5 mL vanilla extract, lemon zest, 3 large egg yolks
- Pulse just until ingredients come together and begin to form clumps of dough.
- Gather dough into a ball and turn out onto a rectangle of parchment paper. Briefly knead in any loose bits of flour. Place an additional piece of parchment paper on top, and roll the dough to 10 millimeters (a little less than ½ inch).
- Place rolled out, parchment covered dough on a baking sheet in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350℉ (177℃, Gas mark 4). Place rack in center of oven.
- Remove top sheet of parchment paper. Place back onto dough and flip dough over. Remove the (now) top sheet. Cut out cookies using 2 inch (5 centimeter) flower shaped cookie cutter. Use a wide straw (I used the small end of a Wilton 1A piping tip) to cut out the center circle. It measures ½ inch (1.5 centimeters) in diameter.)
- Place cookies ½ inch apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet (I placed 20 cookies on a sheet in 4 rows of 5. They don't spread much). Roll scraps and cut out additional cookies as needed to make use of all dough. Chill cookies in freezer for 5 minutes (or refrigerator for 30 minutes) prior to baking.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes, until cookies are set and barely turning golden on the foot. Don't touch them when they come out - they're very fragile when warm. They will firm up as they cool. Once fully cool, dust tops with a generous amount of powdered sugar.
Notes
I highly recommend you use a digital scale to weigh your flour (and other ingredients!) When I tested this recipe, just 15 grams (2 Tablespoons) too much flour made the cookies dense and floury instead of light and buttery.
When cutting out the flower shapes, press the cookie out of the cutter from the base so that you don't leave fingerprints or indentations on the top of the cookie. Flip onto parchment lined baking sheet and gently press flat to remove any curve from the cookie.
If you plan to stack the cookies in a container prior to serving (for transport, or if making in advance), don't add the powdered sugar yet. Sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar just prior to placing them out on a platter.
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.