Italian Crumiri (Piedmont Cookies)

The Story Of Crumiri Cookies

These buttery cookies come from Northern Italy (think Piedmont and Turin area). Families would make these on the weekend to enjoy with coffee and every family had their own unique recipe but they all involved flour, butter and eggs.

Regional variations later came about with the addition of regular cornmeal and milk. The flour used by the early Italians was most likely a fine corn flour which would explain the adaptation. This type of corn flour is not easy to come by outside of Italy so regular flour is used in this recipe.

It is believed that these cookies have their distinct bent shape (sometimes almost like a horseshoe) to mimic the mustache of the first King of the United Italy, King Vittorio Emanuele II. I have also read that the word stems from a yiddish word krumm (meaning crooked or bent) which could also make sense since Italy had many Jewish settlers.

Either way, this cookie has been around in Italy for a long time and you can still find them if you visit the north of Italy.

The traditional version lets the dough dry a bit, usually a day or so before working with it. I omit this step. The traditional cookies are also piped but I prefer rolling and then using a sharp knife to make lines in the dough because the dough is already very dry and hard to get through a piping tip.

If you have made my taralli dolci, it is similar to this rolling and curving technique.

I will show you how to do both below!

What You Will Need And Substitutions

• Unsalted butter: I prefer unsalted to control the salt but you could use salted butter and omit the salt in the recipe.
• All purpose flour
• Honey
• Large eggs: You will be using one egg and one egg yolk. The extra yolk adds a nice yellow color and richer texture.
• Granulated sugar
• Kosher salt: If you do not have this, use regular table salt but reduce the amount in the recipe by half.

How To Make

• Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, cream the butter, honey and sugar then mix in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk.
• Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift the flour and salt together.
• Combine: Now sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together with a hand mixer or by hand until together until a smooth dough is formedThe dough will be thick.

• Roll cookies into a ball: Grab a large walnut sized amount of dough and roll that into a ball. Place on to a non stick cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet. Roll out all of the dough this way.
• Roll into logs: Now roll the balls of dough into 4 inch long log shapes.
• Score the cookies: With a very sharp knife, make 3 grooves lengthwise into the logs scoring about ½ way through the dough.
• ALTERNATIVE METHOD *Prepare a piping bag with a large star tip* : Fill a piping bag with a star tip and pipe out the dough into 4 inch long pieces.
• Bend the cookie dough: Bend the cookies into a crescent shape.
• Bake: Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes.
• Cool: Allow the cookies to cool completely on cooling racks.
• Dust with powdered sugar: This is optional but tastes great and looks pretty too.

Recipe Tips And Variations

• Pipe or roll the cookies: The traditional way to make this is with ridges (see above!) You can get these ridges with a piping bag and star attachment but it will take muscle since the dough is very thick. You can also roll the dough and use a fork to make the ridges before you bend the cookies.
• Omit the bending of the cookies: I have seen these cookies served straight without the traditional bent shape.
• Skip scoring the cookies: If you prefer just a smooth cookie, you can skip scoring the dough or piping with a star tip.
• Drizzle with chocolate

Storing and Freezing

These cookies store very well on the counter for 2-3 days covered. After that, place them in the fridge covered to keep the crispness.

If you want to freeze the baked cookies, allow them to cool then place them in a freezer safe container without the powdered sugar. Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies covered in the fridge overnight when you are ready to eat them.