Crostoli
Crostoli are crispy fried Italian pastries that 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 that 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 names 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 means twisted or crooked. In the little village of Camagna Monferrato, we were served a plate of freshly made ‘storce’ along with the meaning of the name.
In other parts of the world, you might know these as angel wings or Italian bow ties. Fried, sweet pastry is common in 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 at the 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 flavor
- oil for frying
Nonna’s recipe originally had no butter or vanilla but these add 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 center and add all the ingredients except the oil for frying.
- Use your fingertips or a fork to gradually blend the wet ingredients 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 the 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. 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 center to form bow ties.
Try my Birds Nest Cookies for more festive treats.
Tips for Success
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.
FAQ
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 flavor but will still be delicious.
My preferred oil is peanut or grape seed oil because they have a high smoke point and a neutral taste. But use any light-flavored oil – olive oil, 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 minimize 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, angel 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?
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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 (250 grams) plain all purpose flour See Note 1
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoon granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce/30 grams) butter slightly softened
- 1 tablespoon (15 mls) brandy See note 2
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups peanut oil, for frying See note 3
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
To make the Crostoli dough – hand mixing method
- Place the all purpose flour on a clean work surface.2 cups (250 grams) plain all purpose flour
- Make a well in the centre. Add the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, butter, brandy, vanilla extract and salt.2 whole eggs1 egg yolk2 tablespoon granulated white sugar2 tablespoons (1 ounce/30 grams) butter1 tablespoon (15 mls) brandy1 teaspoon vanilla extract¼ teaspoon 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
- Place the all purpose flour in a stand mixer bowl and attach the paddle attachment.
- Add the eggs, egg yolk, butter, brandy, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Mix on low until combined.
- 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 onto your work surface. With the Kitchen Aid Pasta roller, I find I need to go through the thinnest setting twice. You could (and I do) also manually (but carefully) stretch the dough to ensure it is as thin.
- Cut the dough along the length into about 2 inches (5 centimeter )strips which will be approximately 4 -6 inches (10-15 centimeters) 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.2 cups peanut oil, for frying
- 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 become more crisp 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.powdered sugar
- Store in an airtight container for two weeks.
Notes
- It’s essential to measure the flour correctly. When using cups/volume, stir the flour to lighten, then spoon lightly into the cup and level off with a knife.
- Instead of brandy, use grappa, rum, whiskey, or even white wine.
- Grape seed, olive, or sunflower seed are good substitutes. Lard can also be used.
- How many crostoli you end up with depends on many things. I stretch my dough so that it is very thin. If you make thicker crostoli or a different size, the quantity will vary.
- Use either salted or unsalted butter.
- The dough should be soft without being sticky.
- Roll it out as thin as possible, nearly transparent.
- It’s helpful to enlist a couple of people to help because it’s important to keep the pastry from drying out before frying. Someone rolling, another stretching and shaping, and someone else frying. Alternatively, work slowly in small batches, frying each batch as you go.
- Ensure the oil is hot, at around 350°F (180°C).
- Fry quickly to prevent the pastries from soaking up oil.
- 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 flavor, but they will still be delicious.
Nutritional Estimate 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.
I used my pasta machine and put it through the finest setting twice, before cutting them. How wide and long are you cutting the strips?
There is not way I could have done this any different and doubled my amount and more.
It sounds like you did it perfectly, Lina, and followed my instructions to the letter. Without being in the kitchen with you I can’t exactly say. Next time I make them, I count them again. Glad you loved the recipe!
Hi there again, I made these tonight and the recipe was very good, I did use Amaretto as my alcohol and it was excellent, they puffed up nicely. The only this is that the recipe says you get 100 crostili, but I made them the size stated, in fact some were even smaller and I only got a total of 47.
Lina, I make mine very thin. This could possibly be the reason you only got 47. As I say in the recipe, I pass the dough through on the thinnest setting and then stretch them to make them even thinner. But I know in some areas of Italy, crostoli are not as thin so thicker is perfectly fine too especially as you say they puffed up nicely! I will add a note to the recipe about this. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.