Bo Friberg

Cornmeal-Currant Cookies

Preparation info

  • Yield:

    100

    cookies, 3 × 1½ inches each

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in

top 1000The Professional Pastry Chef

The Professional Pastry Chef

By Bo Friberg

Published 1989

  • About

These delightful cookies dotted with currants are popular all over northern Italy, especially in Venice where they are known as zaletti (or zalettini, when they are made in a miniature version). The addition of cornmeal to the cookie dough produces a great crunchy texture that contrasts beautifully with the soft, sweet currants.

Ingredients

  • 7 ounces (200 g) dried currants
  • ½ cup (120 ml) dark rum
  • 14 ounces (400 g) granulated sugar
  • 14 ounces (400 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
  • 14 ounces (400 g) bread flour
  • 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) salt
  • 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g) yellow cornmeal

Method

  1. Macerate the currants in the rum for 30 minutes.
  2. Combine the sugar and butter and beat until light and creamy. Incorporate the egg yolks.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into the butter mixture together with the cornmeal. Add the currant and rum mixture.
  4. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g) each. Roll each piece into a 12-inch (30-cm) log. Flatten the logs so that the sliced cookies will be rectangular with rounded corners. Refrigerate until firm; wrap in baking paper if storing to bake at a later date.
  5. Slice each log into 25 equal pieces. Place the cookies on sheet pans lined with baking paper or Silpats.
  6. Bake at 350°F(175°C) for approximately 12 minutes.