Pizzicati

One of my favorite wintertime traditions is sitting around with friends and family as we shape and decorate holiday cookies. Pizzicati, also called biscotti pizzicati—”pinched” Italian horn cookies with jam filling—are an annual favorite, and they play well on a holiday cookie platter. This recipe is a shortcut version that cleverly taps convenience foods to hasten the cooking process.

Replacing dairy and eggs with softened vanilla ice cream is a genius move; it makes the dough soft and supple to work with, which means you need to chill it for a few hours before rolling it out. Cherry filling is a good substitute for jam, but feel free to use your favorite fruit preserves if desired. While the instructions don’t explicitly mention pinching the tops of the pizzicati cookies, when you reach the step that says “seal,” go ahead and fold the dough over the filling. Then, give a solid pinch along the horizon where the two sides meet. That will give the treats a classic look, similar to that of Hungarian walnut cookies, or kolachy.

Ingredients for Pizzicati

• Butter: You’ll use cold cubed butter to make the cookie dough, so don’t take it out of the fridge in advance. If it’s a warm day, you may want to cube the butter early, then return it to the refrigerator and pull out the cubes just when you need them. Salted or unsalted butter works equally well.
• Flour: Good old all-purpose flour is what you need for these fun pizzicati Italian pinch cookies. You’ll need 4 cups, which is just over a pound.
• Vanilla ice cream: Many ice creams contain corn syrup, gums and fillers, so opt for the best vanilla ice cream brands that use whole ingredients, such as eggs, cream, milk and real vanilla extract.
• Cherry filling: As with the ice cream, look for a high quality canned or jarred cherry filling at the store, or make a batch of homemade cherry pie filling and never look back!
• Sugar: The softened ice cream simultaneously adds eggs, cream and sugar to the dough, but you’ll want to lightly sprinkle the cookies with granulated sugar before baking them in the oven. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar is optional before serving.

Directions

Step 1: Start the dough

In a large bowl, cut the cubed butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in the ice cream. Divide the mixture into four portions. Cover and refrigerate for two hours.

Editor’s Tip: Exactly 2 cups of ice cream equals one pint, so if you buy a pint of ice cream to begin with, you won’t have to do any cold and messy measuring. When dividing the dough into portions, pat them into rectangles, as you’ll be cutting out square shapes to make the cookies. Make sure to chill until the dough is firm and not too sticky; it may take more than two hours, depending on the temperature of your fridge.

Step 2: Prepare the cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a rectangle that is 1/8 inch thick. With a pastry cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. Place about 1/2 teaspoon filling in the center of each square. Overlap two opposite corners of the dough over the filling, then seal them together. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Editor’s Tip: This is where you get your pincers out and pinch that dough! If you’re having trouble getting the dough to stick to itself, you can add a drop of water or brush on a smidgen of whisked egg.

Step 3: Bake

Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until the bottoms are light brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. If desired, dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Pizzicati Variations

• Use any fruit filling you’d like: Feel free to use any homemade or store-bought fruit spread that you love in these Italian horn cookies. Think apricot-amaretto jam, carrot cake jam or even green tomato jam! Or, go wild and use a hazelnut-chocolate spread.
• Add nuts: If you like nuts, sprinkle some on the filling before folding up the cookie dough. Crushed hazelnuts, walnuts or pistachios would be lovely, as would whole pine nuts.
• Gussy up the dough: Elevate the dough by adding citrus zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder or mini chocolate chips. You could also try making the dough with different flavors of ice cream.

How to Store Pizzicati

Store pizzicati cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. If you want, layer them with waxed paper or parchment to keep the jam from sticking to the other cookies. Pizzicati last two to three weeks at room temperature and up to two months in the fridge.

Can you make pizzicati dough ahead of time?

Making pizzicati dough ahead of time is a good game plan. Store the prepared dough in the fridge for up to three days. Wrap it well before storing.

Pizzicati Tips

How else can you shape pizzicati?

Check out the recipe for horn walnut cookies, and use that technique to make a lovely crescent shape. For a more casual yet similar look, try our cinnamon twirl cookies. Or, reference our date swirl cookies for some pinwheel-style inspiration.

What other Italian cookies can you serve with pizzicati?

If you partner these with twisty torcetti, anise sugar cookies, Christmas cookies with ricotta and some colorful Italian rainbow cookies, your festive treats will be the talk of the town!