Pizzicati are delicate Italian shortbread cookies filled with jam. Sometimes called biscotti pizzicati or simply pinch cookies, the jam-filled cookies are not too sweet and beautiful on a dessert tray.
Pizzicati is one of my favorite cookie recipes and for good reason. These delicate jam-filled shortbread cookies have a light texture, and a subtle sweetness.
With only a half cup of sugar in the entire recipe these Italian pinch cookies are lovely served with coffee or hot tea at the end of a meal. Although most people think of cookies as an evening snack or part of a holiday dessert tray adorned with Italian treats like pignoli, biscotti and cannoli, I am not ashamed to say I have thoroughly enjoyed them at breakfast time too!
This recipe makes about 30 to 40 cookies depending upon how thin you roll the dough. Each cookie is quite small — only about two bites each and finished with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Depending upon the size of your cookie cutter and how thin you roll the dough you may get fewer cookies. When it comes to filings, I prefer strawberry, fig or apricot jam. While I have tried pizzicati with nutella I must admit, it’s not my favorite. (I know! I’m so sorry to all the chocolate hazelnut lovers out there!)
Regardless, of what you put inside these tender shortbread morsels, you are certain to delight your friends and family with these sweet Italian cookies.
Table of Contents
What is in Pizzicati?
I love these cookies because they are so simple and easy to make. My eleven-year-old daughter and I make these all the time. I roll and cut the dough, she fills with jam and pinches the two sides together in the middle.
- All purpose flour: Most people have this in their homes and makes a great shortbread dough.
- Powdered sugar: I used powdered sugar both in the dough, and a little extra to dust the cookies for a snowy finish.
- Corn starch: Corn starch won't develop gluten like flour will, which means the dough is more likely to keep it's shape.
- Baking powder: You don’t need much for leavening agents in this recipe. The tiny bit of baking powder gives the cookies a little lift, but not too much.
- Lemon zest: For this recipe I used lemon zest because lemon and strawberry are one of my favorite flavor combinations. I call for the zest of 1 lemon, but you can add the zest of two lemons if you prefer.
- Softened butter: the dough comes together quickly using softened butter. If you forgot to soften your butter you can pop it in the microwave for about 5 seconds.
- Vanilla extract: If you want to swap out the vanilla extract for almond extract or another flavor go right head!
- Egg: This is used to provide a structure to the dough.
- Strawberry jam: I love the lemon strawberry combo in this recipe, but you can swap it for another jam flavor if you’d prefer.
How to Make Pizzicati
Italian pinch cookies really are easy to make, but like any roll out cookie you want to keep the dough chilled. If your dough gets too warm it might stick to the counter or make it difficult to roll out. You also want to roll the dough thin (about the height of 2 stacked quarters).
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl combine the flour, powdered sugar, corn starch, baking powder, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients: To the bowl with the dry ingredients, add softened butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Using a hand mixer, beat on low just until the flour is a little wet, then increase the speed to medium until the dough becomes a loose grainy mixture. Take a rubber spatula and scoop around the bowl. Then knead with the spatula for a minute or so just until you have a slightly sticky, cohesive dough.
- Wrap the dough and chill: Transfer the cohesive dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a 1-inch thick disk. Place it in the fridge to chill for one hour.
- Roll out the cookie dough: Dust the countertop with flour, but don't use too much. You need the dough to be a little sticky so your pinch will seal properly. You can also roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough into a disk that is less than ¼-inch thick. You want the dough thin. If it's too thick or there is too much flour the pinch might not hold. Use a 2 ½ -inch biscuit or cookie cutter and cut out as many circles as you can. Transfer the circles to a baking sheet. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
- Fill and pinch the cookies: Place a scant teaspoon of jam in the center of each circle. Then lift the sides, pinch just center together about 3 finger tips wide but leave each end open. Fold the pinched section down to the left or right side of the cookie.
The cookies will not spread. As you pinch them move them so the pinched cookies are only about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. I can get 20 pinched cookies on a single baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies: Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake in a 350°F oven for 12-14 minutes. The bottoms will be lightly golden, the jam will spread to the open ends, but the cookies will still be pale and will not take on much color.
- Cool and dust the cookies: When the cookies are ready, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Then dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Trouble-Shooting Pizzicati
These sweet little cookies can be tricky to make. If you overfill them, roll the dough to thick or use too much flour when rolling them out the pinch wont stay and the cookies will pop open.
- Only use a ½ teaspoon of jam.
- If the dough becomes difficult to work with place it in the fridge to cool it down and make it easier to work with. Resist the urge to add more flour to roll it out.
- Use a bench scraper to help lift the dough off of your work surface.
- The dough should be rolled pretty thin. If you aren't getting 30 cookies out of a batch of dough you're rolling it too thick.
- Pinch the sides together then fold the pinch over. It will help with the seal.
If all else fails and the cookies pop open, place one on top of the other for sandwich cookies, chop them up and sprinkle in trifle or on top of ice cream.
When to Enjoy Pizzicati
I’m pretty sure I’ve never struggled to find a way to enjoy a shortbread cookie let alone one filled with jam! But if you need some ideas I have a few for you.
Don’t relegate pizzicati to a simple Christmas cookie placed on a dessert table along with other after dinner bites like Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake, Chocolate Covered Dates and Brownies. Make these cookies for a bridal shower, Sunday brunch, baby shower or a Mother’s Day spread. Get the coffee ready!
And now that you are a filled-cookie expert, be sure to check out this ma'amoul recipe. Another scrumptious cookie with a date filling. Then try Baci Di Dama, an Italian hazelnut cookie stuffed with melted chocolate.
How to Store and Freeze Pizzicati
If you’re anything like me, you like to get a head of a big gatherings. If you’re in that camp, then you’re in luck. Make a batch of cookies. Bake them off, let them cool, then pop them in the freezer.
To store: Simply layer the cooked pinch cookies between sheets of parchment, place them in an airtight container in the freezer. When ready transfer then to your serving platter and dust with a little powdered sugar.
More Sweet Treats
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Try our Fig Jam!
This traditional Fig Jam is made from Greek Figs, plump little flavor bombs of honeyed delight! Another great option for filling your pizzicati cookies!
Pizzicati (Italian Pinch Cookies)
Equipment
- 2 ½-inch circular biscuit or cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (270 g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (60 g) powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- ¼ cup (60g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 eggs
- ⅓ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl combine the flour, powdered sugar, corn starch, baking powder, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients: To the bowl with the dry ingredients, add softened butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Using a hand mixer, beat on low just until the flour is a little wet, then increase the speed to medium until the dough becomes a loose grainy mixture, about 3 to 4 minutes. Take a rubber spatula and scoop around the bowl then knead with the spatula (or your hands) for a minute or so just until you have a slightly sticky, cohesive dough. (If using a stand mixer 1 to 2 minutes at medium speed will likely be enough to form a cohesive dough.)
- Wrap the dough and chill: Transfer the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a 1-inch thick disk. Place it in the fridge to chill for one hour.
- Roll out the cookie dough: Dust a countertop with flour, but don't use too much. You want the dough to be a little sticky so it holds the pinch in the next step. (You can also roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.) Roll out the dough into a disk that is less than ¼ inch thick (about the height of 2 quarters stacked on top of each other). You want to get 30 to 40 cookies out of the dough. If it's rolled too thick the pinch may not hold. Use a 2 ½ -inch biscuit or cookie cutter and cut out as many circles as you can. Transfer the circles to a baking sheet. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
- Fill and pinch the cookies: Place a scant teaspoon of jam in the center of each circle. Then lift the sides, pinch the tops together about three finger tips wide across the top, but leave the ends open. Fold the pinched side down to the left or right side of the cookie.The cookies will not spread, so as you pinch them you can move them so the pinched cookies are only about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. I can get 20 pinched cookies on a single baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies: Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake in a 350°F oven for 12-14 minutes. The bottoms will be lightly golden, the jam will spread to the open ends, but the cookies will still be pale and don’t take on much color.
- Cool and dust the cookies: When the cookies are ready remove them from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Then dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Video
Notes
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, honey, jams and spices.
- I like to use strawberry or apricot jam in these cookies but fig jam from our shop is just as delicious.
- If the dough is challenging to roll out at any point it’s probably just too hot. Go ahead and transfer the dough to the refrigerator for 20 minutes to cool down then start again.
- If you use too much flour when rolling out the dough, it can make it difficult for the pinch to hold in the oven. Go lightly when dusting your countertop or roll the dough out between two layers of parchment paper.
- I used a 2 ½ inch cookie cutter to get 30 cookies. If you roll the dough too thick, or use a different sized cookie cutter you could make more or less cookies.
- It's important to roll the dough thin. If it's too thick the pinch might not old and they could pop open.
- You can also make these cookies in a food processor. Just add the dry ingredients and pulse until they come together. Then add the egg, extract and butter and pulse until it forms a ball. You may have to scrape down the sides.
Hi can I use lemon pie filling?
Hi, Anna! That isn't something we've tested, so we can't really say for sure.
Could u use lemon curd for filling?
Hi, Julie! I'm Summer and I wrote the recipe. I'm not sure. Lemon curd can be tricky. I would probably skip the homemade curd for this one but a commercially made one with stabilizers might work. You can always buy a jar and try it with just one or two cookies to start. If you try it let us know how it turns out.
By powdered sugar, do you mean confectioners sugar ?
Hi, Thamima! Devin here from The Mediterranean Dish team. Confectioners' sugar and powdered sugar both work well here. Happy baking!
I have not made these yet but another idea to keep closed is to cut squares instead of circle and then the sides fold over nicely .. and they still
Look the same
Ohhhh, that's a great idea.
Can this be made using gluten free flour?
Hi, Ginger. That may work, but it's not something we've tested with this recipe. If you give it a try, we'd love to hear how it turned out for you!
These were so delicious. My dough was a little thicker which made many of the cookies pop open. I didn’t have strawberry jam so used apricot, cherry , and blackberry jams. Mmmm, so good, and I loved the variety of flavors. Yours looked way prettier than mine, but I bet you have a steady hand, lol, and a good eye for detail.
Can these cookies be frozen in airtight containers for a wedding cookie table? If so, for how long prior to the wedding. Also, do you powder them (with powdered sugar) prior to freezing or when they are thawed out?
Hi, Cindy! I'm Summer and I work here at The Mediterranean Dish. I also wrote this recipe. Yes, these cookies freeze beautifully. Layer them between pieces of parchment and dust with powdered sugar just before serving (once they've thawed out). Make a test batch first as some people have trouble getting the seam to stick. When rolling out the dough, don't use too much flour. You want it to be a little sticky so when you pinch them together they stay sealed. Good luck.
No flavor-I will not make these again. concept good but a different base recipe is in order.
Hi, Jill! I'm Summer and I wrote that recipe. I'm sorry it wasn't a favorite for you. We have lots of dessert recipes on the site. Maybe these Egyptian Butter Cookies would be a better fit. Loads of people love them.
Delicious! After about 8 cookies I got the pinching down right. I only got 28 cookies though with a 2 1/4 in cutter. No problem..I'm making another batch right now! They won't go to waste.
Yay! Practice makes perfect :).
I plan on making these cookies before Christmas…. The recipe says butter .. so should it be unsalted or salted butter ??
We recommend unsalted butter here. Enjoy!
Can I use regular sugar for the dough? I only have a little bit of powdered sugar to sprinkle on tops.
Another variation would be to use Fiori di Sicilia instead of lemon juice. Essential (1:2 lemon oil to vanilla extract). Less acidity, similar flavor profile.
Thanks for the recommendation, Joe!
I pinched the cookies as the recipe said and they opened I was disappointed
Oh, no! Some people find that dipping their fingers in a bit of water before pinching helps them to stay sealed during baking. So, maybe give that a try next time?
My (Italian) mom used to make these every year. I was just thinking about them yesterday as I was planning out the Christmas cookies I'll make with my grandchildren when I arrive next week 🙂 Unfortunately my mom has passed, and I never got her recipe. I'm so excited for the timing of your email with this recipe, and to be able to make these cookies to keep the tradition going. Thank you!
Hi, KT -- Thank you for sharing such a sweet story. I hope this recipe lives up to the one your mother made. Glad we could be small part in continuing holiday traditions with your family.
Can't wait to bake all those delicious cookies. Thanks
They are soooooo good! You're gonna love them!
Yummmmmmmmmmy 😍👏😖