Taralluci al limone are traditional lemon cookies from southern Italy. They’re also referred to by other names, such as Italian love knots and 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 taralluci 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. I opted for the oil version as I didn’t have any shortening on hand and I wanted an alternative to butter.
My first try was an epic failure, as I could not get my dough to come together!
Thankfully my perseverance paid off! After the fourth attempt, I got them just right.
They turned out soft, ever so tender and with a sweet lemon kick.
A FEW TIPS ON MAKING TARALLUCI AL LIMONE
You can start forming the knots as soon as your taralluci 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!
If the dough is still too soft after the resting time, work in a little more flour, just enough to to be able to roll the taralluci.
Place them about 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet to give 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.
Taralluci can also be topped with sprinkles of your choice. I love them just the way they are!!
The dough can also be mixed together entirely by hand and then kneaded til soft and pliable but requires a lot more elbow work.
A stand mixer or hand held mixer works just wonderfully and is faster and easier…a win, win for busy moms!
Whichever way you make them, enjoy these yummy cookies with coffee, tea or even a cold glass of milk!
Taralluci al Limone
Ingredients
- COOKIE DOUGH
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- generous pinch of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup canola oil vegetable or sunflower oil is also fine
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 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 2 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, 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 should be soft and pliable at this time.
- Cover with saran wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. (this will make it easier to roll)
- If the dough is still too soft, after the resting time, simply work in a little more flour, just enough to roll the taralluci.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface.
- Cut off pieces of dough, about the size of a golf ball and roll out into a log about a 1/2 inch wide and 6 inches long.
- Twist the dough to form a loop inserting one end through the loop while forming a knot.
- Place on 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 color with edges slightly brown.
- 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.
Notes
Cookies freeze extremely well.
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! ?
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
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!
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!