Cassadetti

CassadettiGolden, crisp, and filled with creamy ricotta sweetness, these traditional fried Cassadetti pastries are a Sicilian-inspired delight. Made with tender pastry dough, lightly sweetened ricotta, and a touch of vanilla, they’re folded into half-moon shapes and fried to perfection before being dusted with icing sugar. Perfect for festive occasions or an indulgent treat, these pastries are deliciously simple yet irresistibly elegant.Ingredients:

For the Pastry

4 cups cake and pastry flour
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp vegetable shortening (or lard)
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup cold water (approximate)
all-purpose flour (for rolling)
For the Filling

1 lb ricotta cheese
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Also Needed vegetable oil, for frying
icing sugar, for garnish
Directions:

In a large bowl, use your fingers to rub the shortening into the flour until the mixture is evenly blended. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and cold water. Make sure the sugar is dissolved before mixing with the flour. Make a well in the flour and pour in the water/sugar mix. Pull the flour into the water mixture until you can form a ball. Knead lightly until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
To make the filling, simply blend the sugar and vanilla into the ricotta cheese. The consistency should be smooth, not chunky.
Divide the pastry into walnut-sized balls. Using all-purpose flour to prevent sticking, roll each ball into a thin circle. Wet the rim of one edge of the pastry with a little water. Place a spoonful of filling onto the pastry and fold it over to create a half-moon shape. Pinch the seam together in a fluted shape to seal.
Heat ¼-inch of vegetable oil in a frypan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cassadetti in batches until golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar while hot.




In a large bowl, use your fingers to rub the shortening into the flour until the mixture is evenly blended. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and cold water. Make sure the sugar is dissolved before mixing with the flour.

Make a well in the flour and pour in the water/sugar mix. Pull the flour into the water mixture until you can form a ball. Knead lightly until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
To make the filling, simply blend the sugar and vanilla into the ricotta cheese. The consistency should be smooth, not chunky.
Divide the pastry into walnut-sized balls. Using all-purpose flour to prevent sticking, roll each ball into a thin circle. Wet the rim of one edge of the pastry with a little water. Place a spoonful of filling onto the pastry and fold it over to create a half-moon shape. Pinch the seam together in a fluted shape to seal.
Heat ¼-inch of vegetable oil in a frypan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cassadetti in batches until golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar while hot.

Gingersnap Cookies

Grandma Moog's Gingersnap Cookies

These are the best gingersnaps ever. In an airtight container, gingersnaps are crispy—left out, they’re chewy. Try some both ways. Gingersnaps are also the best dunking cookies. Kids love to help make them- rolling the dense, fragrant dough into balls, coating them in sugar, and then watching the cookies magically flatten out during baking. It’s almost as much fun as eating them. A very traditional (and easy) recipe from the twins and Lucas’s “cookie grandma.”

Ingredients

2 Cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 Cup vegetable shortening
1 Cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 Cup molasses
1 tsp. ginger, powdered
1 tsp. cinnamon, powdered
1/2 tsp. CLOVES, powdered
1/3 Cup granulated sugar (to roll dough in)

Directions

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar until well blended. Beat in egg, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Add the flour mixture in two parts, blending well. 

Shape the dough into a ball, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls thoroughly in sugar, place on ungreased cookie trays. 

The cookies spread out during baking, so don’t crowd them. Bake 15 minutes. Cool for a minute, then remove from cookie sheets. 

Store in an airtight container for crispy cookies, or in a regular cookie jar for chewy cookies.

Prep. time: 10 minutes plus chilling;
Baking time: 30 minutes total (2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes each)
Yield: 50-60 cookies