Prep
40 minutes, plus resting
Cook
20 minutes
Serves
About 20
Difficulty
Moderate
Region
Calabria
What you’ll need
Ingredients
- 4 cups plain flour
- ⅞ cup honey
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- Zest of 1 orange
- Almonds, to decorate (optional)
At the stove
Instructions
- 1
Warm the honey with the water until fluid, then let it cool slightly.
- 2
Work it into the flour with the spices and zest to make a stiff dough.
- 3
Rest the dough, wrapped, for 2 hours.
- 4
Roll to ⅓ inch and cut shapes by hand — traditional figures, or simple rounds.
- 5
Press an almond into each if you like, and bake at 340°F for 18–20 minutes.
- 6
Cool completely. They firm up considerably as they cool.
Recipe notes
Mostaccioli are meant to be hard — they soften slightly after a few days in a tin.
Shapes are regional and often symbolic; the dough is the constant.
Context
Honey-and-flour biscuits under the name mostaccioli are documented in Calabria, particularly around Soriano Calabro, and are traditionally hand-shaped for festivals.
Sources: Editorial adaptation of documented Calabrian baking traditions, Ro & Ti Kitchen
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