Classic Italian torcetti biscuits are the perfect partner for an espresso or cappuccino, with crisp, twisted dough studded with crunchy demerara sugar.
Torcetti biscuits originate from Northern Italy and are essentially sweetened bread sticks or grissini, made with an enriched bread dough containing flour, yeast, sugar and butter, sometimes flavoured with vanilla or cinnamon.
The dough is mixed together, lightly kneaded, proved and then formed into strands, rolled in coarse sugar, then twisted to create the distinctive looped tear shape before baking.
With their small size and crisp texture, torcetti biscuits are perfect to enjoy with coffee.
To make your torcetti biscuits recipe, you'll first need to make the dough. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until it forms a rough dough.
Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it's smooth and elastic, then place in a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to proof.
Once your dough has proved, you'll divide it into portions and shape it into distinctive Torcetti twists. Then you'll roll the twists over a plate of sugar for that crystalised sugar surface.
Repeat until you have 24 torcetti, place onto a prepared baking sheet and bake to perfection!
It's really that simple! Once your Torcetti are ready, pop them into a biscuit tin or lunchbox to keep them fresh for your morning coffee.
So if you want to make your coffee break more continental, this is the perfect recipe for you!
The full method is below, with plenty of step-by-step pictures for help with the shaping stage. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 190 g (1⅓ cup) strong white bread flour
- 40 g (¼ cup) white caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- ½ tsp fast-action dried yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) warm water
- 45 g (3 tbsp) salted butter melted
- 100 g (½ cup) demerara sugar (turbinado sugar) or any large-grain sugar
Equipment
- Cling film / tea towel
- Plate
Instructions
Make the dough
Place the flour, caster sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl.
Mix together.
Add the water and melted butter.
Stir to a raggedy dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove for 1 hour until doubled in size.
Shape and bake the cookies
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Turn the dough out onto a clean surface, knead briefly to knock out any large air bubbles, then divide into four pieces.
Work one piece at a time, covering the other pieces with a tea towel or cling film (saran wrap) so that they don't dry out.
Roll the dough out a little more to give a long thin rope of dough about 30cm (12 inches) long. The dough will be elastic because of the developed gluten, so you may have to cover, rest and then continue rolling if you find it is retracting.
Cut the rope of dough into 6. Roll them again so that they're each about 7.5cm (3 inches) long.
Put the demerara sugar on a plate and place the lengths of dough on the plate, one after the other, gently rolling to lightly coat in sugar.
The dough should be naturally tacky enough to pick up the sugar, but if think the lengths have dried out, you can brush them very sparingly with water before rolling in the sugar.
Loop each length of dough to give a teardrop shape with a little cross-over at the point. Place each cookie on a baking sheet lined with baking paper as you work.
Repeat with the next piece of dough and so on until you have 24 cookies in all.
Place both trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until golden and crisp.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and then serve and enjoy.
Transfer any leftover torcetti to a container promptly so that they don't go stale.
Once you've given my recipe a go, I'd love you to come back and leave a comment letting me know how yours turned out.
I'd love to see your videos and pics, too! Just tag me on social media. I'm @emilylearycooks on Twitter and TikTok or @amummytoo on Instagram.
Print this torcetti biscuits recipe
Torcetti Biscuits Recipe
Ingredients
- 190 g (1⅓ cup) strong white bread flour
- 40 g (¼ cup) white caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- ½ tsp fast-action dried yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) warm water
- 45 g (3 tbsp) salted butter melted
- 100 g (½ cup) demerara sugar (turbinado sugar) or any large-grain sugar
Equipment
- Cling film / tea towel
- Plate
Instructions
Make the dough
- Place the flour, caster sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl. Mix together.
- Add the water and melted butter. Stir to a raggedy dough.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
- Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove for 1 hour until doubled in size.
Shape and bake the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 200C/390F (180C/350F fan). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean surface, knead briefly to knock out any large air bubbles, then divide into four pieces. Work one piece at a time, covering the other pieces with a tea towel or cling film (saran wrap) so that they don't dry out.
- Roll the dough out a little more to give a long thin rope of dough about 30cm (12 inches) long. The dough will be elastic because of the developed gluten, so you may have to cover, rest and then continue rolling if you find it is retracting.
- Cut the rope of dough into 6. Roll them again so that they're each about 7.5cm (3 inches) long.
- Put the demerara sugar on a plate and place the lengths of dough on the plate, one after the other, gently rolling to lightly coat in sugar. The dough should be naturally tacky enough to pick up the sugar, but if think the lengths have dried out, you can brush them very sparingly with water before rolling in the sugar.
- Loop each length of dough to give a teardrop shape with a little cross-over at the point. Place each cookie on a baking sheet lined with baking paper as you work.
- Repeat with the next piece of dough and so on until you have 24 cookies in all.
- Place both trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and then serve and enjoy.
- Transfer any leftover torcetti to a container promptly so that they don't go stale.
Nutrition
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