How to Make CUCCIDDATI | Italian Christmas Cookies 

What Christmas dessert should we tackle next?

Grazie! We thought the family recipe was lost, Thank you for posting this video. My Great Aunt Angie (auntangelica) made these every year for Christmas. She took the subway all over NYC from Brooklyn to personally deliver cookies to relatives, well into her 90's. We waited every year for her and her shoeboxes full of cuccidatas! You folks rock.

I still have my great grandmothers cucciddati jar from the 40s, so many hands went into that jar over the years...

In Reggio Calabria we have our version that we call petrali. A cedro is a citrus called Citron. I'm making my petrali tomorrow. Thanks for showing what real Italian cooking is.

“Ciao Harper, it was a pleasure”. Eve you are hilarious!

My great grandmother use to make these every year! She shaped the stuffed crust into a ring shape with slits on top and then baked it or she made individual 1/2 moon-cookies. Brings back memories! Thank you!

My mother used to make pizelles for my children when she was still alive. I don't have her recipe and there are so many recipes out there, that I'm confused for an authentic one. Thanks, love your channel.

In Germany we call the candied fruit: Orangade (from oranges) and Zitronade (from lemons). Very popular at Christmay baking. My older brother hated the texture and did not eat anything that had the candies fruit in it. My mothers solution, chop it so fine that he would not see it. The taste was still tastable.

This is great, reminds me of my childhood. My Italian grandparents always made cucciddati for Christmas and the whole family helped make them.

Eva never fails at cooking

We use cedro (called cédrat) for Christmas in Southern France as well!

I make cuccidati every year; they're a great holiday tradition in my family! Eva's recipe looks really good, and it's slightly different from mine. I got my recipe from my mom's godmother who was my nonna's first cousin, and then I changed the filling recipe a bit so that I could eat it (I'm allergic to nuts). I also don't like candied fruit, and I wanted to make it like it could have been made back before the 18th century, so I simplified the filling ingredient list considerably. I just use dried figs, raisins, and dates, with the peel of a fresh orange, which I grind to a paste in my nonna's hand-cranked food grinder (the kind that clamps to the edge of the kitchen table). Then I add the juice from the fresh orange, a few tablespoons of honey, a spoonful of cinnamon, and half a spoonful of cloves to the fruit paste, and mix it thoroughly. It has to sit overnight before it is used because it needs to absorb the juice and honey, and soften to a spreadable consistency. Cuccidati take 3 days to make if you make them right; filling and dough are made on the first day and sit overnight. Cookies are formed and baked on the second day, and they sit overnight as well (to dry out just a little). Then the frosting or icing is put on them on the third day.

I rarely eat desserts at home or in restaurants. Basically only when I'm a dinner guest n someone's home but this cucciddati recipe intrigues me a LOT! In fact, my niece is having everyone over for Christmas this year (her 1st ever large dinner hosting gig) and... I'm thinking it might be a great idea for me to make a double batch of cuccidddati to bring along as a dinner gift! Thanks for the idea Eva and 'arper!! You guys ROCK!!

7:18 Harper’s 🙄 at Eva’s instructions were hilarious!

"Are you draining my raisins?" Hah! Grazie mille! I have come to really enjoy these mid-week "Cooking With Harper" episodes. Always fun! Saluto! ,🤙🇮🇹🇺🇲

This is what TV could have been. Congratulations on this show you have made. It's amazing to see how this show has grown. I love all the recipes!

Perfect recipe guys! 😍 I live in a town in the extreme south of Sicily, here in dialect we call them "i rame". Here, they are garnished on the surface with royal icing and sprinkles. :)

That’s certainly one of the most iconic Sicilian Christmas cookie recipe ! We made them yesterday….Fun fact: every family has there one special recipe and every year we kind of fight for who’s one are the best! Happy Holidays guy! From Palermo big hugs 🤗

We love these in Louisiana, we have a huge Sicilian influence

I made torta di mele two days ago and it was so delicious! Even better the next day. Thank you!!

PLEASE MORE OF THIS !!! My grandmother used to make these every year :) So awesome :) DON'T GIVE UP YOU TRADITIONS ! :) Also, Ricotta cookies would be cool too some time ;)

Grazie! My grandmother (Piemonte) made these cookies each year along a large flan with a burnt sugar glaze. The recipe for the flan was lost with her passing--love to see you make it. It was wonderful. Thanks.

My grandmother from Italy made these with minor differences in filling and method.. She baked as a whole log then frosted and sprinkled when cool. Then cut them on the diagonal. Yum!

I love that Eva ordered the Citron from where I live! When I was a kid, we used to always get cannoli with citron mixed in. Sometimes I would pick them out to eat them before I ate the cannoli. lol For some reason, bakeries here slowly replaced them with chocolate chips. Now if I want it, I have to make it that way myself!

Bye Harper, it was a pleasure…. 🤣🤣🤣 Love Eva’s quick wit and sense of humor

Complimenti, looks amazing! Can't wait to make Calabrian pignolata and nacatoli for Christmas. You should post your interpretation for those and closer to Easter pitte pie di pasqua.

My mother and her family from Palermo made this for Christmas, with a few slight variations. We called them fig bars. Thank you! Love your show!!!

I love your interaction. Soulmate stuff. I hope to join you on one of your tours 😎 Cheers from New Zealand where it's meant to be sunny, but it's raining

I thought I was done with my Christmas baking, NOPE I'll be baking this I could almost smell the deliciousness of them. Yum

Use to love to visit my Sicilian Grandmother, (who passed away in 2015), I always came away with assorted homemade cookies...

Very glad you showed this, cuccidati are my favorite part of Christmas, or was when my grandma made these for me / us. Only thing, hers were smaller, the filling was not as large/thick, no chocolate - she used to put the filling through her meat grinder and made it rather smooth - I do not recall nuts either. She would make a long narrow roll (pastry around the filling) and cut at an angle about an inch each, then after baking and cool she would put a little white icing and some colored sprinkles. Some people make the filing rather dry, others make it moist. I really like when it is a bit moist and a pronounced orange flavor but any kind of cuccidati is good IMHO. Cuccidati evoke many memories for me.

Harper mentioning Augustus Gloop made me laugh

You may have posted this already but the fruit in question is called "citron". I have not seen it sold in stores but it is part of the blend called "fruit cake mix".

I've been trying to up desert game, baking is my weak point thank you both

Ever hear of the world renowned CHRISTMAS PIE? Sure miss my wife's Italian cooking all year long, RIP Paulanna Micelli!

“Ciao Harper, it was a pleasure!” Damn- that’s savage Eva!🤣🥰🤷‍♀️👍🏻

Love this version because you have so much filling in it versus other recipes I've seen !!

I'm So excited to try these !!!! Thank you Eva and Harper

Oh another recipe make for Christmas, looks delicious! ❤️

They look amazing and I sure they taste delicious. Thanks for such amazing recipes. I love following you guys. ❤️🙏

Oh wow, I love desserts with dried fruit & nuts -- these cuccidati look divine. Thanks for the great tutorial Harper & Eva.

My family is Sicilian and we have always made cuccidati for Christmas! We put the round colored sprinkles on top!

I love, love, love this cookie. There was an Italian store where I lived a few years ago that made this during Christmastime. I looked forward to them every year. Thank you for sharing the recipe. God bless you both.

Thank you for the cucciddati recipe! How about sfingi (aka zeppole or the Greek loukoumades). It's not necessarily Christmassy, but the warm honey over the warm pastries is amazing. And colorful sprinkles overall, Sicilian style.

Absolutely delicious!!! I made this cookies for Christmas and were a total hit!!! Everybody loved them!! This goes to the family recipe box!!! Big thank you from California 👍👏👏👏👏👏♥️♥️♥️❤️

Eva is hilarious. 😂 Especially when exasperated.

Eva….my Nonna made this dessert cookie every Christmas! Grazie! So many memories 💕

Many great memories making these every Christmas of my life. Just ate one tonight! Delicious!

One of my favorite things about Christmas 🎄

This was amazing. I would so love to be tucking into this, I like the texture as seen and I am sure it would be tasty and crunchie as well. Thank you Eva and Harper. Bless

i really enjoy yalls videos thanks for the recipes

Love you guys . Here's a tip use your meat grinder kitchen aid to prep the figs and rasins. It works great. Ciao franco.

Its called a Citron. They are best green or even yellow. They are in the citrus family but do not have as much pulp

Thank You so much for doing this video!❤️😘

The secret of sticky doughs is 1---only use one had to mix.....2--- hold back about 1/2 cup of your flour and ever once in a while take some with your dry hand and rub hands together...the formerly sticky dough falls into the bowl and you have a dry hand to mix some more...repeat as necessary until all the flour incorporated...and both hands will now be clean and dry.....a trick from my Veronese Aunt Margurite the only Italian in an all Connecticut Yankee Family! Buon Natale a tutti

My Christmas cook I remember most as a child were the Calabrian Pitta 'mpigliata. It would be great to see these made.

👍and enjoy Greetings from Germany to everyone stay healthy and fit for healthy Italian food 😋

Both my fillings and dough are very different than yours. I grind whole oranges, lemons, figs, raisins, walnuts, dates and maraschino cherries ( some people use crushed pineapple) and add marsala, a bit of cinnamon and let it sit overnight. I add chocolate chips before rolling and my dough is softer, anise flavored. After they cool a bit I glaze them and sprinkle with jimmies. It makes a lot!!! But I mail them to family. No citron. There is another version made in a big ring at Easter but with more of a pie dough.

Grazie …. it looks absolutely delicious ❤🎄

Y'all are perfect together! Funny and great teaching!!

Merry Christmas/buon Natale Eva and Harper🎄☺️ I love these cookies, I never had them but I will try them out.

Brava again Eva !

Those look amazing.

Love orange zest, the smell is incredible!!!

Definitely an all hands on cookie recipe.

It’s beautiful! I can almost smell it through my phone. Grazie.

I love it! Made Strufoli once, I might try it again, it was very good. Buon Natalie, Merry Christmas 🎄

Looks amazing!

They look delicious 😋 ❣️

Beautiful!!!

Cuccidati are the best! Totally worth the time required to make them! Adding Marsala wine ties all of the flavors together perfectly! Grazie, Eva and Harper.

Cookie I would love to learn how to make from Eva: paste di mandorla. I'm not sure if it's considered a holiday cookie, but, thanks! :)

perfect timing! Spouse is making her "Buccelladu" right now!!

Non li conoscevo. Che figata!

4:12 I am dyingggg hahahaha

I learned about these from Great Depression Cooking with Clara. I like the slight variations in the recipes and I plan to try these too!

I’m telling you Harper, you won the lottery of wives!!!

Looks delicious.

Lovely!

Bravissimi! Nella nostra ricetta di famiglia non utilizziamo il burro nell'impasto ma lo strutto, per il resto è tutto molto simile! Buon Natale Eva e Harper!

This is my daughter's favorite ❤

Authentic Tiramisu! ❤️❤️

In my place, they are called piccidati. They don't look exactly the same but they taste the same. I cooked your version today and they are delicious! Thank you for this great receipe.

Yummy!!!😋💕

Couples that shave chocolate together wave bowler hats together.

Please make a cassada cake. My Nanny made one for Christmas and one for New Years Eve ! I so ADORE the 2 of you 😘😘😘 much love and happy holidays Buona Natale' love Francis and Matt BKNY😘😘😘😘

ciao belli,siciliana here i first boil my dry figs in coffee orange peel cinnamon and marsala wine i also add some semi sweet chocolate chips once its cool enoughi, but your shaved chocolate idea is great i'll try that this coming xmas, i also sometimes let everything steep overnight for the flavors to mix better, but that is my choice my moms recipe doesn't require this, it's just something i decided to do and got lots of compliments for i also add some chopped almonds, but its a question of taste i like to take some recipes and put my own twist to them although some recipes are not to be touched this one can actually be played with, have fun making them. i also make some with cookie cutters i use the roll method once i've done my cookie cutter ones it gets rid of all my leftover dough they are delish i sprinkle powdered sugar on my flower shaped ones and mix a icing sugar and milk or water mixture for my roll like you made

Father, Son, House of Cucciddati ✝️ 🍪 🇮🇹

I love this recipe! Also do you have a recipe for Cannoli? And my favorite, Sfogliatelle❣️ Thank you both for your wonderful videos. You two are fantastic.

That Sicilian cuccidati looks incredibly aromatic and delectably delicious! I must make it this Christmas as my wife is Sicilian. My Calabrese nonna used to make pitta nchiusa, also known as pitta mpigliata, every Christmas. It’s similar to the cuccidati in that it has some of the same ingredients in the dough and filling. My nonna also made pignolata and turdilli. Oh how I miss her and her Christmas desserts! ❤️

not sure what it's called but my mother used to make sweet dough with anchovies in balls... so good... please please make this recipe.. miss my mother and her Christmas sweets from Calabria. must add they were fried ..

Great video, Grazie mille. :-). I would love to see you make a vegan panforte

Thank you for your hard work💗🌷💚. I'll propose you an other one 😅...I'd love to learn how to make : sfogliatelle ripiene teramane. It's my favorite Christmas cake.

I would love to see you make pizzelle! Buon Natale!

Harper: "Can I wash my hands?" Eva: "Not yet, Harper." Harper: 😳 Eva: Harper, go wash your hands... Don't touch the fridge unless you washed your hands. Harper, did you wash your hands? Harper: "Can I wash my hands now?" Eva: "Not yet, Harper." Harper: 😕

That looks good!

Yay cucciddati!!! Mia Nonna Peppina li faceva ogni natale =)

I am a new subscriber and I want to thank you for bringing back many fond memories of my Italian grandmother from 50 years ago! Christmas time was always special and she always had the best assortment of Christmas cookies The problem is, she had a very pronounced Italian accent and I could never make out the NAMES of the cookies she was making. That made it difficult to look up recipes. Some were easy. I found the 'pizzelle', the 'tadalooch' (tarallucci) was a little harder, but the one I remember most was very similar to this cuccidati, but she called it something that sounded like "KUD-ji-neet". The only difference was that her cookie was made like a ravioli. She would spread out the dough, drop a spoonfuls of filling in neat rows, cover with another thin dough, and cut like ravioli to bake. If Ava knows the name of this cookie and if it's related to the cuccidati, I would love to know the name of it! But in the meantime I will use this recipe for the dough and the filling, but make them, ravioli style, like my grandmother did. Thank you so much for this video!

A great video. Grazie

My favorites!