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Tarallucci al limone are traditional Italian lemon knot cookies from southern Italy. They were very popular at weddings as they symbolize two people “tying the knot” in holy matrimony.
Today you will find them mostly at holidays and family gatherings. You’ll also find other shapes, such as the twist or a single ring form such as the ciambelle cookies.
They were not a typical cookie from my childhood, however most Italian families have a version of these tarallucci al limone.
My first encounter with these soft lemon cookies came from a local bakery and I fell in love with them at first bite! I set out to replicate them at home. However, after a few enquiries, I quickly came to realize that there are many ways to make them.
Some use butter or crisco shortening and others a vegetable oil.
The first time I tried them, I had opted for an oil based cookie and really have never looked back since.
They turned out soft, ever so tender and with a sweet lemon kick.
How to make Tarallucci al Limone: Italian Lemon Knot Cookies
These Lemon knot cookies are pretty simple to make and with ingredients you probably already have on hand.
Start by whisking together the flour, baking powder and the salt in a medium sized bowl.
Then with a stand mixer or a hand held mixer you’ll beat the eggs and sugar together.
Next in are the oil, cream, vanilla, lemon zests and juice while mixing until combined.
Add in the flour mixture and mix til thoroughly combined.
How to form knots for Italian Lemon Cookies
You can start forming the knots as soon as your tarallucci dough is ready, however if your dough is too soft simply cover it with a plastic wrap and set it aside for 15 minutes.
This will make it easier to roll out and it bears mentioning that the dough is very forgiving. So if you mess up the knots at the beginning, simply re-roll them!
Start by scooping out pieces of dough slightly smaller than a golf ball.
With lightly floured hands, roll the piece of dough out to about 7 inches long.
Twist the dough to form a loop while inserting one end through the loop to form a knot.
Place them about 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet allowing them room to grow.
They don’t spread out too much but puff up rather prettily. When they’re ready they’ll look pale golden in colour with a slight browning on the outer edges.
My oven tends to darken cookies on the outer edge of the baking sheet. However it didn’t change the overall texture of the darker cookies.
Once the tarallucci cookies have cooled, dip them in a lemon glaze and place them on a wire rack to allow the excess glaze to drip off.
Make sure to place the wire rack over a baking sheet to catch all that drip.
Tarallucci can also be topped with sprinkles of your choice. But all you really need to adorn this simple Italian cookie is a luscious lemon glaze.
I love them just the way they are! Easy to make and oh so delicious!
And if you love lemon cookies as much as I do then you’ll adore these Lemon Ricotta Cookies. They’re an Italian classic cookie. So soft and with a melt-in-your-mouth bite!
This recipe was first Published June 19 2016 and republished June 10 2020 with updated content and photos.
Tarallucci al Limone: Italian Lemon Knot Cookies
Equipment
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
LEMON COOKIE DOUGH
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- generous pinch of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil (vegetable or sunflower oil is also fine)
- 1/4 cup cream (I used 15% cream)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
LEMON GLAZE
- 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 5 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- With a stand mixer or hand held mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together for about 1 minute.
- Add the oil, cream, vanilla extract, the lemon zest, lemon juice and mix until combined.
- Mix in the flour mixture beating for 1 minute til the dough is thoroughly combined.
- The dough will be soft and tacky but still easy to work with.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface.
- Cut off pieces of dough, slightly smaller than a golf ball and roll out into a log about a 1/2 inch wide and 7 inches long.
- I start rolling the dough between the palm of my hands while keeping my hands lightly dusted with flour. And then finished rolling the dough out to 7 inches on a work surface.
- Twist the dough to form a loop inserting one end through the loop while forming a knot.
- Place on the prepared cookie sheet;
- Repeat with remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
- I was able to fit 12 onto each pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes. When done the cookies should be pale in colour with lightly browned edges.
- Let cool on wire rack.
LEMON GLAZE
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the icing sugar and lemon juice.
- Transfer the lemon glaze to a smaller bowl for easy dipping.
- Dip cookies one at at time in lemon glaze, letting excess glaze drip off.
- Place cookies on cookie rack till glaze is completely set.
These look lovely Marisa! very light and tasty 🙂
Thanks Eugenia, they really are light and just perfect for lemon lovers!
Absolutely my favorite cookie from childhood, we called them Anginette. Sometime back I wrote a post about them as well and the response from the Italian American community continues to be strong. We also added black anise seed, typical of Calabria when they were available. During my visit to Italy in April, my wonderful cousin flew to Rome with a supply of these tiny seeds to keep me stocked for some time. Your cookies turned our beautifully!
Thank-you Bella! How wonderful your cousin is… and yes, I have heard of the same cookies referred to as Anginetti! All delightful names for such a delicious cookie?
Mind you this is my own personal taste, but I think they look soooo much nicer without the sticky glaze, but then the question is, how will they taste?? 🙂 🙂
Even without the glaze they are delicious and truly, they are not an overly sweet cookie. If you are not a fan of lemon, anise or almond extracts are wonderful substitutions! ?
Can’t wait to bake them with your recipe.
Let me know how they go Jayne!
How have I never had this Italian cookie before? I love everything lemon and these sound great…especially with a cup of afternoon tea.
Hi Karen, I wish I could ship you some but they are all gone…lol ?
Oh I can certainly see why, Marisa.
I’m a total addict when it comes to lemon cookies. These look amazing! 🙂
Lemon is also one of my ultimate favourite, especially for a light and delicate cookie. Thanks Ronit!
Gorgeous little lemon cookies! Hey did you see I made your Shrimp and Pepper pasta? It was a hit! xoxo
Love your shrimp and pepper pasta and also the name you gave the dish…?❤️
Well the shrimp does get a bit soused, yes? 😉
Lol….?
Lovely and lemony!!!
Thanks so much?
I love these cookies Marisa, they are beautiful and delicious. It’s been such a long time since I’ve had one. Saved the recipe!!
Thanks Suzanne!! These have became a new favourite in my family!?
I have to try these Marisa so lovely looking and I am sure they are delicious!
They are relatively easy and using ingredients we usually have on hand?
That is great, they look so tasty! This summer I want to try many new recipes and you are at the top of my list. So, I might be bugging you often with questions!!!
It will be my pleasure Lynn?
thanks xx
Lovely simple yet flavorful cookies! I love that you opted for vegetable oil instead of butter. They look beautiful and their taste is just what I like in a cookie.
Thanks Nicoletta, I will definitely be testing more recipes with oil and cannot wait to try your chocolate chip muffins!
I’ve never heard of these! Of course, I’m not from southern Italy! (I am half Italian, though!) Thank you for this recipe!
Mimi I have seen these quite often at bridal showers but is was not til I saw them at a local bakery that I decided to try them! They were soft, tender and lemony…yum yum !!!
They really look fabulous!
Thank-you 🙂
We had visitors to the house this past weekend and we got to talking about some of our favorite Italian recipes and this very cookie came up in conversation! I think it was meant to be that I stumbled upon this! They look divine!
Thank-you Annie! Isn’t it wonderful that with just a few simple ingredients and some gorgeous lemons, one can bake such delicious cookies…thanks so much for dropping by 🙂
Nice presentation , good lemon taste , the next batch you make add some blueberry jam on the top center
Hahaha Mr Nick,hmmm I am not too sure about the blueberry jam…I can always give it a try 🙂
More stunning baking beauties, Marisa! My mom used to make anise ones similar, but lemon is the way to go with these lovely knots of love 🙂 xoxo
I tried the anise flavoured ones,but I much prefer the lemon as well! Thanks Lana xxx 🙂
Marisa I just adore these little lemon cookies. So pretty with the icing running down the sides. I can almost taste them! Just lovely.
Thank-you Teresa! They are pretty to look at and really quite simple to make with a lovely lemon kick 🙂
I think I’ve had these before…in a little Italian grocery store in Australia! I haven’t seen them at our Italian Centre Shop so I guess I should try making my own. They are so good with tea. Thank you for this recipe, they look perfect!
They are really quite simple to make and the dough is very forgiving if you mess up the knots! They are keeper! Thanks for dropping by Bernice?
Marisa these cookies are just gorgeous! We love lemon anything and this looks like a fun recipe to try, especially since you’ve already worked out all the kinks!
Lol….thanks Julie! Hope you get to try them they are delicious?
I used to help my Mother make these cookies, we all loved them. We made them especially for Italian weddings,
I lost the recipe, thanks now I can make them again.
Jo these are a true crowd pleaser
what kind of creme is this? milk? heavy whipping creme? half and half?
thanks
Maria, it’s a cream with 15% fat content, which is richer than milk. Heavy whipping cream usually has a 35% fat content. You can substitute with regular milk or even half and half if you can’t find a 15% fat cream. Hope this helps.
Yum! These cookies are amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Happy to hear you like them and your very welcome?
I love these cookies, one of my favorite cookie!!
I am glad you like them Margo, these are also a family favorite…which reminds me I should make them again very soon 🙂
This is great, Marisa! I’ve had these cookies before but not with this particular recipe so I’m going to try it thank you so much for posting this❤️
Hi Margie, I’m glad to hear you like it. Its not a difficult recipe by all means and it just takes a little practice in making the knots but the dough is also very forgiving. Enjoy and thanks for dropping by 🙂
Made these yesterday and had a difficult time getting the dough to come together. Ended up adding a lot more flour, about 1/2 to 2/3 cup and then cookies tasted a little doughy. Since you tried 4 times with this dough you must have hints/advice! Wonder if refrigeration might help vs adding all the extra flour?
Hi Lee, I’m just wondering…did you use an electric beater or the hand method? Some people have no issues with the hand method, I however prefer using a mixer because the dough comes together much nicer.
The dough itself is a soft cookie dough and shaping the knots simply takes a little practice. If you mess the knot shape, re-roll the piece with dusted hands and shape the knot again. This has always worked for me. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any other questions. Thanks for reaching out and have a great day!
Letting the dough sit covered on the counter for at least an hour or two before baking really helps the consistency. Dough has to rest. My grandma and mother always did that with these cookies and I do the same. Try it!
Thanks so much Michele! I’ll definitely let it rest more next time I make these. Never rush a good thing, right?!
What lovely lemon cookies Marisa! Love reading about traditional Italian baking. 🙂
Thank you Lili! They are really popular and quite irresistible!
Hi Marisa,
I have attempted these twice now and followed the recipe to the T, including using a electric mixer and although they taste delicious and just like my Nonna’s, they come out too wet even after resting for 15 minutes. I have rested it both at room temperature and in the fridge. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I am worried if I add more flour it may be too doughy. Do you have any tips for this?
Thanks.
Hi Sarah, sorry to hear about the difficulty your having with the recipe. If the dough is truly too wet to shape the knots then I would definitely add more flour. I would add the extra flour a little at a time till you have a manageable dough. Even up to half a cup more should be fine. Don’t hesitate if you have any other questions. I’ll try to answer as quickly as I can….in the meantime I’ll try a batch of these soon and update if needed!
Thank you so much! I will try these again this weekend and add morw flour. Much love from Australia x
Your very welcome Sarah…have a wonderful weekend! x
Oh my goodness, these cookies turned out perfectly thanks to your perfect recipe, I am always skeptical getting recipes on line but you definitely nailed it! I am so pleased as I have made them before but they were always too hard, these are tender and just lovely, thank you thank you thank you, they will be a hit at the bridal shower tomorrow. Thanks bella 🤗
Eva I’m so happy to hear they turned out perfect for you! They’ll add a little touch of nostalgic, especially if you grew up with them…have a lovely time at the bridal shower and congratulations to the bride to be!
Hi Marisa!
I’m so happy I found this blog. I am going to make these taralluci now! When I was little, we would spend summers in Sicily because all my Mom and Dad’s family were there. My Nonna would send me to the pacifico to get these on the day she knew they were just baked. These are probably my most favorite cookie, and all I see in my mind is my little Nonna! Unfortunately, in 2007 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, and all my favorites were suddenly gone!!!! Fast forward 12 years later and there are amazing GF cup for cup baking flours! I have had much success with this particular brand (Cup4Cup) and I will making them RIGHT NOW!!!!
If you like, I’ll let you know how they come out and take a pic for you!!
I’m so so so happy!!!!
(and I believe these are truly authentic because 30 years ago, I’m SURE the baker in Sicily was NOT using lemon extract, but the lemons they picked off the tree!!!!)
Hi Lilli, I have a family member who is gluten intolerant so I’d definitely love to hear how they turn out with the Cup4Cup flour!
I can only imagine how difficult it is to be diagnosed with celiac disease but sounds like you have a positive attitude….wishing you all the best Lilli!
Hi I made these cookies and they are delicious but the dough was so sticky I had to add a lot of flour. My hands were covered with dough. How do you measure you flour. I use a spoon to fill the measuring cups. Please help I do bake a lot but could figure out what a did wrong. I made them twice and both times the dough was very sticky. The only thing I can think of is the way we are measuring the flour. I would appreciate your help. Thank you so much.
Hi Veranda, it might be the way we measure! I’ll test it out this weekend and weigh the flour. I usually scoop the flour into my measuring cup and level it off.
I noticed in the recipes posted the one mentions cream and the other does not. Which way is the preferred method and is it whipping cream or maybe half and half?
Hi Linda, I recently rewrote the recipe with a few switch ups as I mentioned in the notes below the recipe card. The ingredients does state 1/4 of cream and I use 15% table cream as mentioned. Hope this helps and feel free to reach out anytime!
What is 15%cream? I’ve never heard of that. We have whipping cream and half and half.
Hi Angela! Where I live we have an extensive variety of creams, some light and others heavier in fat content.
Definitely go for the half and half as it contains about 12 percent fat! The whipping cream contains a whopping 38 percent fat. So you’re good with the half and half!
Hi Marisa! Would it be possible to have the original recipe? I’ve made them many times and they are my mom’s absolute favorite! She’s sensitive to cream, so the original would be better! Love your recipes!
Hi Samantha, you can substitute the cream with milk or a non dairy milk like almond milk.
The original recipe was 2 1/2 cups of flour, 2/3 cup of vegetable oil.
Hope this helps!
Hi Marisa I was about to make using the original recipe which states 2 1/2 cups of flour and no cream? Is their an error in the recipe?
The new recipe includes cream , I do not have cream, can I use milk instead?
Hi Anna I rewrote the recipe using cream but you can definitely use milk instead!
Thank Marisa, I am curious on the amount of flour your original recipe writes 2 1/2 cups, the updated one says 3 1/2 cups has this changed?
Yes I rewrote the recipe. The original was 2 1/2 cups of flour, 2/3 cups of oil and no cream.
You can still use the original recipe if you wish!
Thank you!
You’re very welcome Anna!
Hi!
I’ve made the original recipe and it was delicious although I never printed it out! Is it possible to have the original recipe without the cream? Thank you so much!
Hi Gabriella,
I’ve actually written my revisions below the recipe card in the “notes” section. Do let me know if you have any other questions. I’ll be glad to help!
Hi Marisa! I began making these cookies and they are absolutely delicious, but some of the batches I made, the cookies have come out to be a little dry and crumble when you bite into them. I don’t know where I’m going wrong… possibly using too much flour or not the right oil? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated
Cayla you mentioned “some of the batches” which I understand to mean that the remaining batches turned out well?!
Sometimes it can be just in the method of measuring flour. Spoon the flour in a measuring cup and level off the excess with the back of a knife for more accurate measuring!
Did the dough seem dry after mixing? You can always add a little more cream or milk to the dough! The dough should be soft and tacky!
However if some batches turned out fine, might it be the oven? Does it fluctuate in temperature?
Fell free to reply back!
Hi. I tried the original recipe and I thought they were good. Would have liked them to be a little lighter. I just noticed you made some changes including adding heavy cream. Just wondering — what does the cream do? Will that make them a bit lighter because I may make them again. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Florence! Yes I switched it up a little and they are way more tender and lighter!
The heavy cream can be replaced with milk and I’ve also used almond milk with success! But the cream does make them lighter!
We call these ninarelli (sp)! Italian cookie staple!
Intersting Lisa. I’ve never quite heard of these cookies referred as ninarelli before. Thanks so much for commenting.
Hi Maria,
Would you be able to help me adjust these cookies without eggs? My family has health issues and is intolerant to eggs. Is there anything that can be done? Almost all of the Italian cookie dough requires eggs. Please help if you can! I grew up in an Italian family and I want to try to recreate these without eggs to keep the tradition alive.
Thank you so much!
Brianne
Brianne there are a few substitutes for eggs when baking but I haven’t tried any so I couldn’t say for sure. One sub would be to make a flax egg…1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds soaked in 2 1/2 tablespoons of water. The mixture would have to set for about 5 minutes to thicken. I hope to try this myself sometime soon. When I do I’ll report my findings here.
I made these exactly as the recipe calls, but they were too big, very hard and tasteless. I can’t figure out why. Any tips would be appreciated.
I’m sorry to hear that they turned out too hard and tasteless for you. What was the consistency of your dough after preparing it? It should be soft and somewhat tacky. How long did you bake the cookies? The 15 to 18 minutes is a guideline. Only bake until the cookies are pale and lightly browned around the edges. This might mean less time in the oven for you. You can add an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract and more lemon zest if you wish. Hope this helps Mary Anne.
I just found your recipe for these cookies just wondering I have had a great recipe from a very old Italian lady she gave me her recipe years ago and of course I lost it ,I know she used solid shorting and a lot of baking powder, loved the almond taste and they were glazed with sprinkles, I’m not very good using my IPAD that the kids gave me so I’m hopeful that maybe you can help me extremely happy to find you and excited to try this lemon knot cookie, hopefully you wi.l get my reply 🙏❣thanks so much-needed and I know the dough was chilled slightly 😊
Hi Sandra, shortening was the baking choice in those days since it was way less expensive than butter. You might be referring to Anginetti cookies that can be flavoured with lemon, almond, or anise extract. All are great flavours. I hope this helps, and feel free to reach out any time!
My mom use to make these, but I don’t have her recipe, I was so happy when I found a version on your blog. I made them and they were a big hit! Thankyou so much Marisa!
You’re most welcome Crissy! Whether sweet or savoury, taralli cookies are a staple in every Italian kitchen and are so irresistible!
these cookies are fantastic, I chilled my dough hour before making them, delicious so easy I can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe. Merry Christmas to you and your family 🌲🙏
Thanks so much Sandi, and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. It’s always been a favourite at my house.