Not Bread Stick, Not Palmier
It’s Twisted Shaped Cookies

Twisted shaped cookies are light and savory. Although yeast-raised and cookies are rarely used in the same sentence, a region in Italy called Val D’Aosta is well-known for these cookies. In fact, Queen Margherita liked them so much that she knighted the owner of a pastry shop in Saint Vincent on the spot.1


Like any baked goods that rely on yeast for leavening, the dough for these cookies takes some time to be ready. Your patience will be duly rewarded.

Warm water ½ c.
Active dry yeast 1¼ tsp
All purpose flour 1½ c.
Salt ¼ tsp
Unsalted butter, cold 2½ Tbsp
Sugar for rolling

ingredients for twisted shaped cookies



  • Whisk active dry yeast in warm water, then lightly coat a medium sized bowl with some butter and set aside.

    twisted cookie dough before proofing

  • Cut cold butter into small pieces and combine them well with flour and salt. Then add the yeast mixture to form a ball. On a slightly floured surface, fold dough onto itself 3 or 4 times or until it is smooth and no longer sticky.


    Dough for twisted shaped cookie after proofing
  • Place dough in the buttered bowl, turning it over so that the top is buttered. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise until doubled, about an hour.

  • After dough has risen, press it down to deflate it, cover bowl again and refrigerate for at least another hour.


  • When you are ready to shape cookies, line cookie sheets with parchment paper, then cut dough into 24 pieces of approximately equal weight, and keep them under a piece of plastic wrap so they won‘t dry out.

    Twisted cookies are ready for baking

  • Roll a piece of dough on a sugared surface to make a pencil-thick strand of about 4 or 5-inches long, then cross one end over the other about 1-inch up from the ends. Place shaped cookies on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1-inch apart.


    cooling Torcettini
  • Let twisted cookies rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Bake until they are lightly golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.


    Twisted cookies - Torcettini

  • Slide parchment paper with cookies on it to wire racks to cool completely. Store these Torcettini twisted shaped cookies in an airtight container.



Other Easy Cookie Recipes from Around the World

1 NICK MALGIERI. First Edition. A Baker’s Tour – Nick Malgieri’s Favorite Baking Recipes from Around the World. HarperCollins Publishers. 2005.