Crostoli are a crispy fried Italian pastries which are popular during Carnevale and many other holidays.
So light and flaky, Italian crostoli just melt in your mouth. Try stopping at just one - it's impossible!
Why you'll love this recipe
Crostoli are traditional Italian pastries which are fried and dusted with sugar. What's not to love!!
These pastries are eaten mostly at Carnevale which is the celebration just before Lent. However in Italy crostoli are sold in pastry shops throughout Lent. In other parts of the world these delicate pastries are also favourites at Christmas and other holidays.
Interestingly, this is the crispy, lighter-than-air fried pastry is also known in Italy by many other name such as cenci, bugie or chiacchiere di carnevale. I have always known this pastry as 'storce' pronounced 'storch'. This comes from the Italian word 'storto' which mean twisted or crooked. In the little village of Camagna Monferrato, we were served a plate of freshly made 'storce' along with meaning of the name.
In other parts of the world, you might know these as angel's wings or Italian bow ties. Fried, sweet pastry is common to many countries not just Italy.
While my late mother made delicious storce, her recipe went to the grave with her. So the recipe here is based on nonna's Italian fried dough recipe. Nonna Lucia (my husband's grandmother) passed on her knowledge to my mother-in-law and I have slightly adapted it.
For complete ingredient quantities and full instructions, please scroll to the printable recipe card bottom of the page.
Ingredients
As with most traditional Italian recipes, the ingredients are very basic.
- flour
- eggs
- sugar
- brandy
- butter
- vanilla
- a pinch of salt for flavour
- oil for frying
Nonna's recipe originally had no butter or vanilla but adds extra flavour.
Instructions
Basically this is pasta dough and you will find more details about making pasta such as tagliatelle and fagottini on my site. This dough can be made by hand or using a stand mixer.
To make this dough by hand:
- Place the flour onto a clean work surface.
- Make a well in the centre and add all the ingredients except the oil for frying.
- Use your fingertips or a fork to gradually blend the wet ingredient slowly gathering in flour to form dough.
- Knead well until smooth and elastic.
To make this dough with a stand mixer:
- Place flour into bowl of stand mixer.
- Add all ingredients except the oil for frying.
- Using a paddle attachment, mix to form dough.
- Switch to dough hook attachment and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
How to shape crostoli
Roll the dough thinly and shape any way you desire. Check out my Easter Nests using this dough. However in saying that these fried pastries are usually shaped by cutting a slit into strips of dough and one end folded through the slit. If you would like to make Italian bow ties, simply pinch the strips of the dough in the centre to form bow ties.
Tips for Success and FAQ's
The nature of these Italian fried pastries is that they are delicate, crisp and crumble as you bite into them. To succeed with this recipe, there are a couple of important points to remember.
- The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- Roll the dough as thin as possible - almost see through.
- Don't let the pastry dry out before frying.
- The oil must be hot - approx 180°C/350°F.
- Pastries must cook quickly so that they don't absorb oil and become heavy.
This recipe is much easier if you have a pasta machine. However it is possible to roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Admittedly, no one had pasta machines in years gone by! Stretching the dough as well as rolling the dough will help achieve the correct thinness.
This recipe uses brandy. Other recipes use grappa, rum, whiskey or even white wine. While I have never made these Italian pastries without alcohol, it is possible to substitute milk for the alcohol. The pastries may not bubble as well or have the same flavour but will still be delicious.
My preferred oil is grape seed oil because it has a high smoke point and neutral taste. But use any light flavoured oil - vegetable, canola or rice bran - will all work well.
This recipe makes quite a few pastries but these last for several weeks if stored well. Be sure to use an airtight container. I prefer tupperware which has a good seal. Line the base of the container with baking paper so that is comes up the sides a little. This will minimise crostoli absorbing a "plastic" smell. Lay a sheet over the top as well before sealing with the lid.
Call these Italian fried pastries crostoli, chiacchiere, angels wings or Italian bow ties, it doesn't matter, the addiction is the same! Now everyone can enjoy a little bit of Italy at home.
Made this recipe?
Let me know if you liked it by leaving a ★★★★★ star rating and a review below. Please share a photo of your creation by tagging me on Instagram @marcellina.in.cucina!
More Italian favorites for you
Pizzelle
Italian Pignoli Cookies
Orange and Almond Cookies
Italian Fig Cookies
Chewy Amaretti Cookies by It's Not Complicated
Almond Cookies by It's Not Complicated
Crostoli Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/30g) butter slightly softened
- 1 tablespoon brandy see notes for substitutes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- 2 cups grape seed oil for frying (rice bran or vegetable oil could be used)
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
To make the Crostoli dough - hand mixing method
- Place the flour on a clean work surface.
- Make a well in the centre. Add the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, butter, brandy, vanilla and salt.
- Use your fingertips or a fork to gradually blend the wet ingredient slowly gathering in flour until the dough starts to come together. Add a little more brandy if needed to form a ball.
- Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Rest the dough for 30 minutes.
To make the Crostoli dough - stand mixer method
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, place the flour.
- Add in the eggs, egg yolk, butter, brandy, sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix on low until combine.
- Switch to dough hook attachment and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Rest the dough for 30 minutes.
To roll and prepare Crostoli for frying
- Cut small portion of dough off the “mother” dough.
- Flatten the smaller piece and begin to pass through the pasta machine on the widest setting.
- Fold and pass it through the widest setting. Continue to fold and pass through the pasta machine 5 or 6 times until the dough is smooth.
- Dust with extra flour as required.
- Begin to reduce the setting until you are at the finest setting.
- Pass the dough through the finest setting and place the length of dough on to you work surface. With the Kitchen Aid Pasta roller, I find I need to go through the thinest setting twice. You could also manually (but carefully) stretch the dough to ensure it is as thin.
- Cut the dough along the length into about 2in pr 5cm strips which will be approximately 4 -6 inches/10-15cm long. This is just to give you an idea but really how you cut is up to you.
- I make a small cut in the middle of each piece and twist one end through the cut, as you can see above.
To fry Crostoli
- Heat oil in a heavy, high sided frypan.
- When the oil is hot (350°F/180ºC) slip in 3 or 4 crostoli (or more depending on the diameter of the frypan).
- Work quickly because they take about 30 seconds (or less) to cook on each side if you have the oil hot enough. Turn them (I like to use two forks) once a lot of bubbles have formed and before they colour too deeply. Crostoli should be light golden in colour. If they are brown, they are burnt.
- When cooked on both sides, remove them and drain them on absorbent paper. Crostoli will be a little soft but will crispen on cooling. If crostoli take too long to cook it means that the oil is not hot enough and they will absorb too much oil resulting in heavy crostoli.
- When cool, dust generously with powdered sugar.
- Store in an airtight container for two weeks.
Notes
- The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- Roll the dough as thin as possible – almost see through.
- The oil must be hot – 350°F/180ºC.
- Pastries must cook quickly so that they don’t absorb oil and become heavy.
- You could use grappa, rum, whiskey or even white wine.
- While I have never made crostoli without alcohol, it is possible to substitute milk for the alcohol. The pastries may not bubble as well or have the same flavour but will still be delicious.
Nutritional Information Per Serving
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. For accurate results, it is recommended that the nutritional information be calculated based on the ingredients and brands you use.
Francesca Kelly
Your recipes are to die for, thank you for sharing. The crostoli were beautiful.
For special occasions such as Easter, Christmas etc. my mother used to make what she called nagatoli, which I don't even know if I spelled it right were make with crushed almonds and other nuts to a smooth mixture, I remember she also had rose water in them, then put into a light pastry and then cooked them in the oven, would you have heard of these?
Love your recipes, have a wonderful new year, and again many thanks.
My mother was from Sicily, I don't know if it was something they had in that region but they were beautiful.
Marcellina
Thank you Francesca! I thrilled that you love the crostoli. To answer your question, nagatoli are a lot like cuccidati or Calabrese petrali. From my understanding, these pastries had their origins in North Africa which would explain the rose water. Nagatoli can be filled as your mother would with an almond paste but also with dried figs, raisins, honey and citrus zest. The pastry would be a shortcrust pastry called pasta frolla and sometimes were beautifully cut and decorated on top. I would have loved to try one of you mother's nagatoli! They sound amazing!
Mark
Very delightful cookie
Marcellina
They sure are!