Italian Knots with Sucanat
A second Italian Christmas cookie - knots! This recipe has been in my family for ages and honestly the original recipe as written made very little sense as is often the case with recipes that are handed down. But my updated version of the recipe shouldn’t cause any confusion so if you’ve never tried a knot cookie now is the time! These cookies have almost a biscuit-y soft taste and there’s only a little bit of sugar in this recipe so the knots themselves aren’t too sweet (that’s what the glaze is for!). For both the cookies and the glaze, I naturally sweetened them with Sucanat and it adds such a nice caramel-y flavor to the glaze.
As a reminder, Sucanat is an abbreviation for “sucre de canne naturel” or natural cane sugar and is a less processed, more natural sugar in comparison to granulated white sugar/brown sugar. Due to the minimal processing involved in producing Sucanat, it retains more of its nutritional properties as well. The minimal processing does mean that the granules of Sucanat are larger and not uniform though so when adding it to recipes, including this one, you will need to grind it in a coffee or spice grinder first so that it can better incorporate in with the the rest of the ingredients.
Enjoy!
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients
270 grams all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature and cut into small cubes
2 eggs
60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
35 ml (1/8 cup) milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
60 grams Sucanat, grind in coffee/spice grinder
Glaze
45 grams Sucanat, grind very finely in coffee/spice grinder
10 ml milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, pinch of salt, and baking powder. Using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix in the Sucanat until incorporated. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated. The dough should be a bit sticky but manageable at this point (if it’s way too sticky, add a bit more flour). Grab small balls of dough, roll into a rope and then twist into a knot and place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and very lightly golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.
To make the glaze, combine all 3 ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Once the cookies have cooled, dip them in the glaze and place on cooling rack to allow the glaze to firm up.
