Ligurian canestrelli are buttery shortbread biscuits shaped like a small flower with six rounded points and a hole in the middle, dusted with icing sugar. The best-known version is the canestrelletto di Torriglia, from the upper Val Trebbia inland from Genoa. They are sweet and crumbly and need only a few ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, one egg and a little lemon.<\/p>\n
The name causes confusion: \u00abcanestrelli\u00bb is also used for Piedmontese wafers and for savoury rings. Here is the Ligurian recipe, with the amounts most sources agree on, the mistakes that make them tough, and where to try them.<\/p>\n
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Origin:<\/strong> Torriglia, upper Val Trebbia (Genoa hinterland); recognised traditional agri-food product (PAT)<\/li>\n
Total time:<\/strong> about 1 hour 10 minutes, including 30 minutes chilling<\/li>\n
When:<\/strong> all year; once a festive treat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Ingredients<\/h2>\n<\/figure>\n
Makes about 25 biscuits.<\/p>\n
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300 g plain flour (Italian type 0)<\/li>\n
250 g soft butter<\/li>\n
100 g caster sugar<\/li>\n
1 egg (the yolk in the dough, the white for brushing)<\/li>\n
grated zest of an unwaxed lemon, to taste<\/li>\n
icing sugar, to finish<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How to make it<\/h2>\n\n
Take the butter out of the fridge about 20 minutes ahead: it should be soft, not melted.<\/li>\n
Separate the egg and keep the white aside. Pile the flour on the work surface and put the sugar, diced butter, yolk and lemon zest in the middle.<\/li>\n
Mix quickly, only until the dough holds together. Wrap it in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.<\/li>\n
Heat the oven to 180 \u00b0C (conventional, not fan) and line a baking tray with baking paper.<\/li>\n
Roll the dough out to about 1 cm thick on a floured surface.<\/li>\n
Cut the biscuits with a six-point flower cutter of 5\u20136 cm and make the hole in the middle, about 1.5 cm. Re-roll the offcuts as little as possible.<\/li>\n
Place the biscuits on the tray, well spaced, and brush them with lightly beaten egg white.<\/li>\n
Bake for about 15\u201320 minutes: they should stay pale, only lightly golden at the edges.<\/li>\n
Let them cool on a rack, because they are very fragile when just baked. When cold, dust them generously with icing sugar.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Tips and common mistakes<\/h2>\n
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Soft butter, not warm.<\/strong> If the dough gets warm it turns sticky and the biscuits lose their crumble: put it back in the fridge for a few minutes.<\/li>\n
Work it as little as possible.<\/strong> Overworked dough gives hard biscuits. Re-roll the offcuts only once.<\/li>\n
Do not let them brown.<\/strong> Torriglia canestrelli are pale. Sources give different temperatures, from 140\u2013150 \u00b0C with a longer bake up to 180 \u00b0C: adjust to your oven and the thickness.<\/li>\n
Sharp points.<\/strong> To keep the shape, some people put the tray in the freezer while the oven heats up.<\/li>\n
Afterwards.<\/strong> They stay crumbly for 3\u20134 days in an airtight tin.<\/li>\n
Allergens.<\/strong> They contain gluten, eggs and milk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Variations<\/h2>\n<\/figure>\n
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Torriglia recipe and home recipes.<\/strong> Amounts vary from family to family: some use two yolks, others one, some add liqueur (often rum) or a little milk. A sheet from the Antola Regional Park gives another proportion (500 g flour, 300 g butter, 150 g sugar, 2 eggs, ammonium bicarbonate, milk) and a larger biscuit, about 10 cm with a 3 cm hole.<\/li>\n
With hard-boiled yolks.<\/strong> Many widely shared blog recipes use hard-boiled yolks, potato starch and icing sugar. The result is a sandier dough, different from the Torriglia one.<\/li>\n
Flavours.<\/strong> Lemon or vanilla are the most common. Hazelnut, cocoa, chestnut flour or chocolate-coated versions are more recent variations that the pastry shops of Torriglia sell.<\/li>\n
![\"Canestrelli](\"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canestrelli-liguri-foto-01.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Canestrelli](\"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canestrelli-liguri-foto-02.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Statua](\"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canestrelli-liguri-foto-03-683x1024.jpg\")
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