A surprise!

My Nonna visited yesterday. There's nothing like an Italian granny's cookie recipe. She brought the cookies, I'm sharing the recipe with all of you. I asked, she said it was okay! ;-) So dig in, these are great!!

Strufoli

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cups honey
3/4 cup pine nuts
2 1/4 ounces colored candy sprinkles

Melt the butter.

Place 2-1/2 cups of flour in a large bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, lemon rind and salt and mix well.

Make a depression in the center of mixture. Drop in eggs and butter. Mix until dough forms. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour if needed. Knead dough on floured surface until it is smooth and elastic.

Break off pieces of dough and roll into ropes. Cut into pieces 1/4 inch long. Roll these pieces into little balls and set aside.

In a frying pan, heat oil about 2 inches deep. Fry balls until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring 1-1/2 cups of honey to a boil. Let honey boil gently for about 3 minutes before dropping in fried balls, stirring with wooden spoon until they are well-coated.

Remove balls from honey with a slotted spoon and place in a deep dish or mound them on a platter. Sprinkle surface evenly with colored sprinkles, if desired.

Mmm, so good!!

Grazie mille, Nonna!