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Struffoli Recipe
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Struffoli Recipe

Struffoli are an authentic Italian festive dessert. These crunchy balls smothered in honey are bursting with citrus flavours and create the perfect pairing of sweet and zesty. Shaped into small balls, once you taste them you won’t want to stop! Not just a crowd-pleaser, they are also a beautiful tradition to introduce to children at your next Christmas party – you can serve them each their very own portions!
Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 10

Equipment

  • Stand mixer (or your hands)
  • Rolling pin
  • Cutting board
  • knife
  • Zester or Grater
  • Dry tea towel for resting the dough
  • Baking Tray for the dough
  • Large plate for cooling
  • Parchment paper
  • Medium saucepan
  • Skimming ladle for frying
  • Paper towels
  • Large Frying pan
  • Spatula suitable for frying
  • Serving plater or Cupcake holders

Ingredients

  • 230 grams All-purpose flour 8 oz
  • 2 tbsp White sugar
  • 2 Organic eggs
  • 2 tbsp Llimoncello Preferably homemade
  • 2 tbsp Peanut oil Plus extra for frying
  • 1 Lemon medium sized
  • 1 Orange medium sized
  • Pinch of salt
  • 150 grams Honey 5,29 oz
  • Candied fruit orange and lemon
  • Sprinkles Optional

Instructions

To Make the struffoli dough

  • Add 1 ⅓ cups of flour (230g) to a mixing bowl, followed by 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 eggs.
  • Add zest from half a lemon and orange along with 2 tablespoons of limoncello, peanut oil and a pinch of salt.
  • Begin mixing on medium speed or by hand. It should take about 2 minutes to form a dough in a mixer.
  • If your dough is really sticky, add a little flour and mix again. Repeat this process until the dough soaks up all the ingredients from inside the bowl and on the sides.
  • Sprinkle a light amount of flour onto a wooden board or your work surface before removing the dough from the mixer.
  • Place dough on the surface and begin to gently knead it until it becomes nice and smooth. Incorporate small amounts of flour only as needed.
  • Cover the struffoli dough with a dry tea towel and leave it to rest for at least 30 minutes.

To cook the struffoli

  • After 30 minutes, remove the dough from your tea towel and stretch it with a rolling pin into a wide oval – only roll it a few times, making sure it’s not too thin.
  • Cut a piece of the dough – up to 1.5cm wide – and begin rolling it with the palm of your hands until you get a long, medium-sized snake.
  • Place it to the side on a tray with some baking paper underneath so it doesn’t stick.
  • Keep forming the long snake-like shapes until you finish the struffoli dough.
  • Put up to 10 of them at a time back on your bench/wooden board and cut them straight down into pillow-like shapes, making each piece less than 1cm.
  • Place the cut pieces back onto the tray with baking paper, so they don’t stick.
  • Heat up peanut oil in a deep saucepan and bring it up to approx. 180°C (356°F).
  • Drop each small ball into the oil separately to make sure none of them stick together.
  • Gently lift and turn the struffoli until they are golden brown all around. Each stuffoli takes about 1 minute to cook, so keep an eye on them!
  • Lift out of the oil and strain each struffoli. Transfer them onto a plate with a paper towel to remove any excess oil.

To decorate the struffoli

  • Heat a large saucepan.
  • Add 5oz of honey (150 grams), followed by 1 tablespoon of sugar, and mix.
  • Add struffoli to the bubbling mixture of honey and sugar. Stir to coat the struffoli.
  • Add lemon and orange zest to your liking and continue to mix.
  • Turn off the heat and add candied fruit and sprinkles and mix well before transferring quickly to a serving plate or cupcake holders.
  • Add sprinkles or leave plain – they are so full of flavour already!
  • Serve cooled.

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