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Sicilian Easter cookies close up photo on a kitchen towel decorated with the chocolate filled eggs.

Sicilian Easter cookies with eggs (cuddura cu l’ova)

Cuddura cu l'ova is a beloved traditional Sicilian Easter dessert. It's a fragrant milk biscuit (or shortcrust pastry, if you prefer), enclosing hard-boiled eggs and decorated with colorful sugar sprinkles, chocolates, and marzipan fruit. A perfect blend of taste and symbolism, made with creativity and gifted from the heart.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course buiscuit, cookies, Dessert
Cuisine Italian, sicilian
Servings 6 cuddure
Calories 331 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

For the Milk Biscuit Dough

  • 4 cups Flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup lard
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1¾ tsp Baker's ammonia (Ammonium Carbonate)
  • Milk as needed
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon

For Decoration

Instructions
 

Before Making the Dough – About One Hour Before

  • Fill a large pot with water and add 6–8 eggs. Make sure the water covers the eggs by at least 2 inches.
  • Let the water come to a boil.
  • Once the water is boiling, cook for about 5 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat, remove the eggs, and cool them under cold water. Set aside.

Making the Cuddure Dough

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, and salt.
  • Add the lard.
  • Add the two whole eggs and the grated lemon zest. Start mixing with the dough hook.
  • Mix the baking ammonia and a tablespoon of milk in a small cup. Dissolve the ammonia, then add it to the stand mixer bowl and continue working the dough.
  • Add tablespoons of milk if needed. The dough should be compact but not too stiff.
  • There is no exact amount of milk, as it depends on the flour used. I prefer to focus on the dough's consistency. It should be soft but not sticky.
  • Transfer the dough to a floured surface.
  • Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a thickness of about 1 centimeter.
  • Shape the dough into your desired forms – dove, bells, eggs, baskets.
  • Place the bases on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Place the slightly dampened hard-boiled eggs on top of the dough.
  • It's a good idea to create strips of dough to place over the eggs to keep them in place while baking. Use a pasta cutter wheel for decorative wavy edges.
  • In a bowl, beat a fresh egg with a fork.
  • Use a food brush to brush the surface of the cuddure.
  • Decorate with colorful sugar sprinkles or sugar beads.

Baking instructions

  • Bake at 365 °F for 25-30 minutes or until the base starts to brown.
  • Once the cuddure are ready, let them cool.
  • In a small bowl, place the powdered sugar. Add water until you get a thick, sticky paste.
  • Use the paste to stick your decorations to the cuddure. Simply place a drop of sugar glue where you want the chocolate eggs or sprinkles, then place the decoration on top.
  • Let cool. The powdered sugar will firm up, holding the decorations in place.

Notes

Storage and Tips
Wrap the cuddure in kitchen film or place them in transparent bags. They can stay fresh for up to seven days. After seven days, they will become dry milk cookies, which you can still enjoy by dipping them in milk. Delicious!
Substitutions and variations 
Flour: the recipe used for this recipe is usually flour 00, but you can use all purpose flour. 
Lard: the traditional recipe uses lard, which is animal fat. If you don't like lard, you can substitute butter. You can replace the lard with the same amount of butter. If you want to replace lard with oil, reduce the amount of oil by about 20% of the amount of lard in the recipe. For example, if the recipe calls for 100 grams of lard, you can use 100 grams of butter or about 80-90 grams of vegetable oil.
Sugar: You can replace it with brown sugar, stevia, or erythritol for a lighter version.
Baker's ammonia can generally be substituted with baking powder in a 1:1 ratio in recipes, so in this case, you can use 1¾ tsp baking powder
Milk: You can replace it with water.
Sprinkles for decoration: You can replace them with chopped nuts, pistachio or almond granules, shredded coconut, or chocolate chips.
Adjust the Cooking Time. Every oven is a little different, so it's a good idea to keep an eye on your cookies as they bake. You'll know they're ready when the edges turn a lovely golden brown. The baking time may also vary depending on how thick your cookies are and the shapes you’ve chosen, so check them a few minutes early to be safe.
Colored Easter Eggs. You can also use colored eggs.
Edible decorations: you can use chocolate candies, jelly beans, crystallized sugar, raisin, chocolate carrots, and filled eggs. 
Extra flavor: add pure vanilla extract to the cookie dough before kneading. You can also use an orange zest if you prefer a orange scent to your cookies.
Decorations: use a fluted pastry wheel to create decorative strips. 

Nutrition

Serving: 200g | Calories: 331kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 246mg | Sodium: 415mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 417IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 3mg

Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!