CNYEats A Taste of Utica Calginiti aka Ceci Cookies

I forgot about this recipe from CNYEats A Taste of Utica. I made it a couple of weeks ago to post. Better late than never.

Getting ready for the holidays and starting to think of all the sweets to entice family and friends to come and visit. A Taste of Utica cookbook is the place to start.

Fried Ceci Cookies are a favorite for the holidays but just as good before and after your celebrations. A “ceci” is a garbanzo bean aka chick pea and is the main ingredient for filling these cookies.

Makes 65 cookies – Posted in our book by Steve and also Pat DeCarlis

The Ceci Filling

3 cans chick peas, rinsed well
1 cup honey
3 oz grated semi sweet chocolate
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 TBS cocoa
1 TBS cinnamon

Mash the chick peas in a food processor. Warm the mashed chick peas on the stove then add the other ingredients for the filling and mix well. Set aside.

The Dough

12 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups shortening
enough flour to make pliable, rollable dough, not sticky. *I cut the recipe into 1/3 and used 3 cups flour but it was still a bit sticky so I used more for rolling.

Make a well in the flour and add the eggs, sugar and shortening. Use a mixer to combine and thick enough to knead.

Roll out the dough and cut into circles. Add filling to the middle and fold over, sealing edges so filling will not seep out. You might use a fork to close.

*You can fry these if you wish as the original recipe specifies or bake, as I did at 425 F for 12 minutes on a pan coated well with canola oil. Make sure to flip the cookies before baking so both sides are coated with oil.