{"id":3596,"date":"2017-12-26T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-26T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=3596"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:49","slug":"crostoli-italian-fried-pastries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/26\/crostoli-italian-fried-pastries\/","title":{"rendered":"Crostoli (Italian Fried Pastries)"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 26, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t grow up eating crostoli.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean we didn\u2019t have our own version of fried dough.<\/p>\n

Unlike crostoli, which are thin and crispy and leavened with baking powder, I grew up eating ovals of fried yeasted bread dough sprinkled with granulated sugar.<\/p>\n

Frying bread dough and sprinkling it with granulated sugar is a common among Southern Italians. My mother had a name for it that I\u2019ve never heard anywhere, it sounded something like \u201cpitla.\u201d I started doing some research. The word \u201cpitta\u201d is still used in Calabria, where my mother’s family originated, for various types of dough-based foods, including some that are quite flat. The word “pitta,” which I believe derives from the Greek word \u201cpita,\u201d became the word \u201cpizza\u201d in standard Italian. I\u2019m guessing that “pitla” is a dialectical variation of “pitta.”<\/p>\n

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One of the positive outcomes of doing research on Italian fried dough products is that I came across a wonderful Wikipedia page on fried dough from around the world.\u00a0 Check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crostoli (or crostui in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy where my mother-in-law was born) are traditionally served at Christmastime. My mother-in-law says that they would sometimes have them at other times of the year when they \u201cwanted something sweet\u201d that was simple to make.<\/p>\n

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My mother-in-law’s zig-zag pastry cutter<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not growing up eating crostoli, I asked my husband to tell me what he remembered.<\/p>\n

I got two sentences:
\n\u201cWe always had them at Christmas.\u201d
\n\u201cThey\u2019re not my favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n

There you have it, the entirety of the crostoli story in 10 words.<\/p>\n

I even waited a couple of days and asked him again if he remembered anything else about crostoli. \u201cNope\u201d was the answer.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re up to 11 words.<\/p>\n

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That might have been the end had it not been for Christmas Eve. The morning of Christmas Eve, after I mixed dough for panettone, my mother-in-law and I made up a batch of crostoli to take to Christmas Eve dinner at the home of our friends Rich DePippo and Doug Howe.<\/p>\n

Rich\u2019s grandfather was from Domegge di Cadore in the Veneto region of Italy, just next door to Friuli-Venezia-Giulia where my mother-in-law was born. In fact, Domegge is about 100 kilometers from Treppo Grande, my mother-in-law\u2019s home town.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Rich and his mother, visiting for Christmas, also made crostoli the morning of Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

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Using a Microplane grater makes fast work of zesting lemons<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were dueling crostoli served for dessert (along with pizzelle, nut roll, and biscochitos).<\/p>\n

Rich\u2019s were long and thin, with a slit cut in the middle through which one end of the dough was twisted before frying. This seems to be the most traditional shape that I\u2019ve seen in my research, though Lidia Bastianich, who is also from very near where my mother-in-law was born, ties hers in a knot.<\/p>\n

Having seen pictures of crostoli twisted and tied before embarking on making them with my mother-in-law, I asked her why hers were just left as irregular squares (well, quadrilaterals<\/a>, really) of dough. That\u2019s the way her mother made them was, of course, the first response. After which she added that she liked them to puff up, which they don\u2019t do if they\u2019re twisted or tied.<\/p>\n

The other difference in the crostoli is that Rich used anisette to flavor his whereas my mother-in-law used lemon zest and vanilla.<\/p>\n

The anisette was definitely a new twist. In researching crostoli, I\u2019ve seen citrus, usually lemon or orange, as the most common flavoring.\u00a0 Often vanilla is added; sometimes brandy or rum. Never have I run into a recipe with anisette. Hopefully Rich will weigh in on his family\u2019s recipe for crostoli and how they came to use anisette for flavoring.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, enjoy!<\/p>\n

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If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com<\/a> and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven\u2019t seen Bertha\u2019s Flan<\/a>, it will give you an idea of what I\u2019m looking for.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Crostoli (Italian Fried Pastries)<\/h2>\n
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Crostoli are pastries that re rolled thin, fried, and dusted with granulated sugar. Powdered sugar melts and becomes sticky so granulated sugar is traditional. Crostoli are usually larger than the ones shown here, something like 1 \u00bd inches by 3 or 4 inches. We made these smaller because they were being served as part of a dessert buffet at the end of a large meal.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>30 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>45 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span> 15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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