2820 Sicilian Chocolate Spice Cookies

Sicilian Chocolate Spice Cookies Rame di Napoli Makes about 28 large cookies 1 cup plain tea biscuit cookies, ground into coarse crumbs 1 to 1-1/4 cups milk 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1- cup sugar 2 eggs 7-tablespoons butter, melted 1- tablespoon honey 1- tablespoon orange marmalade 7/8-cup unsweetened cocoa 1- teaspoon ground cloves 1-tablespoon ground cinnamon 1-tablespoon vanilla extract 1-teaspoon baking powder Chocolate glaze: 1-cup dark chocolate 4-tablespoons butter 1-1/2 cups coarsely crushed pistachio nuts Put the cookie crumbs in a medium bowl, just barely covering them with milk. Allow them to sit and soak until the crumbs have absorbed the milk, then stir well until the mixture reaches a creamy consistency. In a separate large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Add the milk-soaked crumbs to the mixture and combine well. At this point add more milk to the batter, a little at a time, and using a wooden spoon stir it until the mixture reaches the consistency of a thick paste, like that of pastry cream. The amount of milk added will depend on the type of cookie crumbs used, but should be approximately 1-1/2 to 2-cups. Look for a somewhat loose and creamy consistency that still holds its shape on a spoon and is not runny or liquid. Let the batter rest for one hour. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a ¼-cup measure or scoop and form the batter into rounds spacing them 1-inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake for approximately 10 to 15 minutes or until the tops of the cookies appear dry. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. Begin making the glaze only when the cookies have cooled and are ready to frost. To make the glaze: melt the chocolate and butter together using a double boiler on low heat, stirring constantly. Once the chocolate has completely melted and the consistency is a thin liquid, remove it from the heat and pour it into a bowl. Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze, coating the surface evenly, and place them on cooling racks to dry. Sprinkle the tops of each cookie with some of the pistachio nuts while the glaze is still warm and cool completely.