Peach Cookies For Rose-Anne


My daughter Christy and I made these delicious cookies in honor of my sister-in-law Rose-Anne, who passed away this past week after a valiant fight with pancreatic cancer. This isn’t Rose’s actual recipe, but one I adapted from a couple of others I found online. I was a little concerned about making these cookies initially as I thought they might be a bit fussy to decorate but they ended up to be very easy to make, and we both loved how they turned out and tasted. I asked Christy to write a short post about why we chose these cookies to make in honor of Rose-Anne.

When traveling through Umbria this past summer with my parents, we stumbled upon many decadent pasty shops. Being the foodie family we are, we had to peek into every Pasticceria (pastry shop) to see what special pastries might be tempting us behind those beautiful displays. We also like to see what is unique to the area and how the regular findings in pastry shops compare. This one particular Pasticceria showcased these beautiful peach cookies, and my mind immediately went back to my childhood days.

When I was a child, my Aunt Rose-Anne would make these gorgeous peach cookies and this was before Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes and all the fancy desserts you see today. These peach cookies of Aunt Rose-Anne’s always took my breath away and I was completely in awe of them. She would make them for special events and I believe they are particular to the region of Italy her family was from, Pescara and were traditionally served at weddings.

We made these cookies this week as a tribute to my beautiful Aunt as she passed away at the young age of 52 after a long and hard battle with pancreatic cancer. She will be deeply missed but will always hold a very special in our hearts. Aunt Rose-Anne was a beautiful wife, an adoring mother, a devoted daughter, a caring sister and a wonderful Aunt.

~ Christy Hoban ~

Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease that takes far too many lives each year. This coming year, thousands of North Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and will be told there is little hope for survival. Please donate to SAVE LIVES by raising funds to support research that focuses on detecting pancreatic cancer at a earlier stage and improving treatment options. Unlike other cancers, the survival rate has not improved in the last 40 years and it remains the only cancer with a 5-year survival rate still in the single digits at 6%. You can help change this statistic by joining our fight!

We believe … there CAN be a future without pancreatic cancer. We need your support to reach our goal and make this dream a reality. Please consider donating in Rose-Anne’s name. My niece Jessica has started a fund in her Mother’s name where you can donate to the Canadian Pancreatic Cancer society to support research and improve treatment. Just click on the purple ribbon below!

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month …
Join the Global Movement to Shed Light on the Deadliest Form of Cancer


Click On The Purple Ribbon To Donate!

We made our peach cookies pretty large so they would better resemble peaches, and we chose peach jam for our filling, and a clear peach liqueur to color with food coloring to decorate our peaches. Instead, you could make smaller peaches which would look great on a cookie tray, and you could fill the cookies with Nutella or pastry cream instead of the peach jam we used if you prefer.


Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 

Peach Cookies

Peach Cookies

Yield: Make 2 Dozen Large
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 Large Eggs
  • 2 Cups Sugar
  • 1 Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Cup Whole Milk
  • 6 Cups All-purpose Flour

Filling:

  • Peach Jam

Decorating:

  • Peach Liqueur
  • Yellow & Red Food Coloring
  • Super Fine Sugar
  • Mint Leaves

Instructions

  1. For the cookies, first preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add the oil and beat until creamy, then mix in the milk and vanilla.
  5. Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt, then add this to the batter and beat just until it is combined.
  6. Take a small amount of batter in your hands, and roll into a ball about 1 1/2 inches for large, 3/4 of an inch for the small sized cookies and place these on the baking sheets.
  7. Continue to roll out all of the batter into balls, and then bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until very light brown on the bottom.
  8. Cool well.
  9. For the filling, use a sharp knife, and cut out a circle at the bottom of the cookie removing the cookie centers and placing these in a bowl.
  10. Be careful not to cut completely through the cookies, but you need to make space for the filling.
  11. Once you have cut the bottom of each cookie, break up the cookie pieces you have cut out into fine crumbs.
  12. Add enough of the peach jam to the cookie crumbs until you have a sticky filling.
  13. Carefully fill each cookie, and then matching cookies or shape and size, place two cookies together, using the peach mixture as glue to hold the cookies together.
  14. Clean any peach jam that may ooze from the seams.
  15. To decorate, place about 1/2 cup of the peach liqueur in two separate bowls, and color one yellow and the other red.
  16. In a third bowl, place the suer fine sugar. (I found the cookies worked better if the colors were fairly strong.)
  17. Carefully dip each cookie pair into the red mixture first 3/4 of the way up the cookie, then dip the other end in the yell mixture.
  18. I found that if I then dipped the yellow end briefly in the red liquid it created a more natural looking color.
  19. Gently blot the cookie with paper towels to remove most of the liquid, then immediately roll the cookie in the sugar.
  20. Place the finished cookie on a sheet of waxed paper to dry and continue to color the rest of the cookies in the same manner.
  21. Once the cookies have dried, you can insert a couple of mint leaves and a whole clove to resemble a peach.

Did you make this recipe?

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50 Comments

  1. I am so sorry to hear about your sister in law. It must be such a difficult time for your family. I am sure she will love these beautiful cookies you made in memory of her and will be looking down on you with a smile.

    Take care.

  2. First let me say that I am very sorry for your loss. The death of a beloved family member is so hard already but when they are so young it is especially painful. Our thoughts are with you. These cookies are a beautiful tribute to her memory. I followed the link from Foodgawker because they are just so lovely. I’m sure they taste as good as they look but I’d have a hard time eating them because they are so incredibly beautiful! They really do look like sugared peaches! I will be making these someday for sure and I will remember your story when I do. Thank you for sharing!

  3. Condolences on your loss. I think your sister-in-law would be touched by your tribute to her with these beautiful cookies. No doubt her spirit lives on in these sweet treats.

  4. I really want to make these for a baby shower this week but don’t want to use liqueur, for obvious reasons (pregnant lady). Do you think water would be an ok substitute?

    1. The liqueur is actually very mild and you cannot taste it as it evaporates when the sugar dries. We served these cookies to my grandchildren and they never tasted the liqueur at all. I certainly wouldn’t use water in place of the liqueur, but maybe a mild flavored thick juice such as peach nectar would be your best choice.

  5. These cookies are so beautiful, and a lovely tribute. I have one question, I can’t tell from your description if you hollow out the cookie completely, or just cut away 1/8th of an inch for the filling. Thanks!

  6. stunning. rose and ann are two name I hold very dear… along with baking… so I am THRILLED to try these.

    the cookie cutting confuses me and it’s probably because i haven’t tried them yet. is the cookie soft to cut out? i would think they would crack. again, i’m sure if i just went ahead and tried the recipe, it would make sense!!

  7. Ciao mi permetto di lasciarti un commento xché questi biscotti pesca sono una meraviglia, purtroppo non capisco molto bene l’inglese x caso tieni un’altro blog in italiano?? Comunque ti auguro buona continuazione x il tuo blog che e bellissimo e x le tue splendide ricette

    kiss from belgium!!!

    1. Thanks for you comment! Unfortunately my Italian is not good enough for me to translate the entire blog in Italian. I do appreciate your feedback though!

  8. I’ve followed this recipe EXACTLY as you have it posted above, but the dough for the cookies turned out way too sticky. I’ve added extra flour, refrigerated the dough for an hour, added more flour, tried wooden spoons, and every other suggestion I’ve found on the internet…nothing seems to make this dough cooperate! Do you have any suggestions!?

    1. I ended up refrigerating the dough for an hour and a half, then flouring my hands every time I reached into the bowl for more dough. They turned out very nice! I was planning to put them together and decorate tonight too, but I underestimated how much jam I’d need. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

    2. I’ve never had any problems with this recipe exactly as written and many of my family and friends have made them with great success. Sorry for your difficulties but I’m not sure what the problem might be.

  9. I have had these at weddings and always wanted to try them. Can I make them complete or part way and freeze? I would like to make them ahead of time and will need to travel about 12 hours in a car. If I can freeze and then pack in a cooler for the trip that would be great. They are for a niece’s wedding.

    1. Mary, they are really best made the day you plan to eat them or the day before. You could make the cookie part ahead and freeze, then decorate and fill as needed, but I found out myself fresh was better.

  10. These cookies are amazing!!!! the trick I found out from above comments is first of all when it shows the required amount of flour you need to make sure it is a level packed measure, secondly , scoop it out onto your parchment with two teaspoons and let it sit for a couple of minuites, then pick up the dispensed scoop and roll it into the ball. I found using two teaspoons, one to scoop and one to remove ontot he parchment worked perfectly. And god bless too you for carrying on your sisterinlaws legacy thru such a heartfelt treasured recipe.

  11. So sorry to hear of your loss. I also lost a very dear friend in September to Pancreatic cancer . Your sister in law will be proud of you.
    I am an Australian and a foodie who lived in Umbria for many years and I did come across these delights over the years and have tried them, made by some elderly ladies in Foligno and Spoleto, who claim them to be a speciality of this region, so I was delighted to see your beautiful recipies . But I must say that on my return to Australia, I was surprised to find my Aussie mother made her version of them up to the putting together stage then dipping them into the liqueur and then in red and yellow jelly crystals
    I stick to the umbrian way dipping into a mixture of Alchermis and water then sugar. I so look forward and enjoy your recipies every month and wish you all the best for a happy christmas and many more recipies

  12. Thank you for sharing! I am making these now and am noticing that they are beautiful right out of the oven, but as they cool, they deflate and look wrinkled. Any advice? All my ingredients are newly purchased.

  13. Deborah, I’m so sorry for your loss.

    I’ve only now happened upon your website. When I saw these peach cookies I was amazed! I made these about 20 years ago. They were very delicious but did take a lot of time. It’s ironic because I did NOT know they were Italian! Now that I know, this Nonna will make them again for my darling grandchildren……;)

  14. Deborah, I too make these peaches and I use scoops to place them on paper without rolling into balls, and they come beautiful, even slightly cracking a bit to look like real peaches. You are correct, the peach liquor is wonderful! Also, I have an Italian book that says they are from Calabria. I suspect folks from many regions make these very special peaches. Check out my website for other cookies I bake. Thank you for sharing.

    1. My Mom who is also from Calabria, would make these for almost every party…We filled them with homemade custard, both choc. & vanilla…also soaked them in anisette. And used the crumbs for zuppa ingles’. yours are just as pretty as I remember. I am tempted to make them for her.. thanks for sharing 🙂

  15. Hi! These cookies a tradition in my family, too! I had them at my wedding, and at every Italian wedding we go to. They are definitely one of my favorites. I also have to commend you on how pretty yours turned out. That is NOT easy to do! I am also very sorry to hear about the loss of your sister in law, but thought that this was a beautiful way to honor her memory.

    I also run a site, and I wrote a post for National Peach Month – in it, I sourced and referenced your post. If you would prefer that I remove the reference, or credit you in a different way, I would be happy to oblige. I truly just wanted to share a favorite peach recipe, and also, I thought your post was very touching and deserved some attention. Thank you for sharing!

    Link for reference: http://lifeissweetasapeach.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/august-is-national-peach-month/

    Thank you again!

  16. Hi,

    I made these adorable and delicious cookies today. They are wonderful! They are drying but I’m wondering how to store them? If I put them in the frog, will the sugar get “wet” with condensation? Do they need to be made and consumed the same day? Thank you!

  17. Quick question: do these freeze well? I want to make a huge quantity of them, therefore forcing me to make them more in advance than I would like. Freezing seems the best option to keep them fresher tasting.
    Opinion?

  18. The dough was very sticky for me too. I added more flour and they are still chilling. I am hoping it will be workable when i try it. I want to make a large quantity and freeze as well for my daughter’s wedding. Has anyone done so. Would be curious to find out.  I am sorry for your loss. I just lost my dad to alzheimers. 

  19. I make large quantities if these cookies and freeze the cookie parts, (scooped out) for upto a month.  About a week the big event I fill them with chocolate custard and freeze them until the day if the event.  Yes, the sugar can look sweaty on them, but I re roll them in sugar if necessary.

  20. These peach cookies look absolutely divine! The delicate pastry filled with sweet peach jam and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar is simply mouthwatering. I can only imagine how wonderful they must taste, and I cannot wait to try making them myself. Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe, it’s truly a gem! Best regards, Becky Gomez.

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