Italian Peach Cookies (Pesche Dolci)

By The Cooking Foodie · 120 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes until pale and slightly frothy.
3. Whisk in the melted butter (not hot), milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest until smooth.
4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and fold in gradually. Switch to a spatula or your hands as it thickens. The dough should be soft but not too sticky.
5. Roll the dough into 30 g balls and flatten them slightly on the tray, leaving 2-3 cm between each. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until pale on top and lightly golden underneath. Let cool slightly.
6. While still warm, use a small paring knife or teaspoon to scoop a small cavity in the flat side of each cookie. Set the crumbs aside.
7. Mix the ricotta, peach jam, vanilla bean paste and orange zest (if using) until smooth. Add the reserved crumbs if you like, then transfer the filling to a piping bag.
8. Pipe the filling into the hollow of one cookie and press a second cookie on top to form a peach shape. Repeat with the rest.
9. Pour the peach liqueur (or peach juice) into two small bowls. Add red food colouring to one and yellow to the other. Put the sugar for coating in another bowl.
10. Dip one side of each cookie briefly (about 1 second) in the yellow mix and the other side in the red mix, or brush the colours on for more control.
11. Immediately roll the coloured cookies in sugar until evenly coated.
12. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so they soften slightly and absorb the flavours.
13. Just before serving, press a mint leaf into each cookie to look like a peach stem.

Summarized from The Cooking Foodie's video. Watch it for the details.

More recipes with

EggLemonMilkOrangeRicotta cheeseJamPeach