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Homemade Italian Pan di Stelle Cookies. These iconic Italian breakfast cookies are made with chocolate, hazelnuts and honey and decorated with white stars. They’re super easy to make at home and are absolutely delicious!
Recipe overview
- The recipe: Classic Italian chocolate and hazelnut breakfast cookies topped with white stars.
- Texture and taste: Chocolatey with a subtle hazelnut flavour. They’re crisp and crumbly and perfect for dunking in milk or coffee.
- Makes: 30 cookies
- Perfect for: An Italian-style breakfast or snack!
We have always loved Mulino Bianco breakfast cookies and love choosing from all the different varieties when we’re in Italy. After recreating their abbracci cookies (hugs), I knew the next one on my list had to be Pan di Stelle!
Pan di Stelle (meaning ‘bread of stars’) are one of Mulino Bianco’s most popular breakfast cookies. They’re made with chocolate, hazelnuts and honey and are decorated with iconic white stars on top.
I found small white star sprinkles online that were perfect for decorating these cookies; they make them look so cute and give them such a realistic Pan di Stelle look.
The cookies themselves are rich and chocolatey with a delicious crisp and crumbly texture, making them perfect for dunking in your morning cappuccino!
Ingredient notes
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It- Italian 00 flour: This is my go-to flour for most of my Italian baking, but all-purpose flour (plain flour UK) will work well.
- Chopped hazelnuts: you can buy these finely chopped or weigh the same amount and blitz them in a food processor until finely chopped.
- Cocoa powder and dark chocolate: the original cookies use both cocoa and chocolate, which helps give them a deeper, richer chocolate flavour.
- Butter: use unsalted butter softened at room temperature. If you use salted butter, omit the added salt from the dough.
- Powdered sugar: helps give the cookies a crisp and crumbly texture.
- Caster sugar (known as superfine sugar in the US): I love using caster sugar because its fine texture incorporates well into the cookie dough. If you can’t find it, then you can use granulated instead.
- Star sprinkles: I found small white star sprinkles on Amazon. They help give the cookies a realistic Pan di Stelle look, which I love.
My top tips for making Pan di Stelle
Use a kitchen scale: although I have measured all the ingredients myself using US cups, weighing out your ingredients with a kitchen scale is much more accurate and can make a big difference to the end result.
Measure all ingredients before starting: the recipe flows so much better if all the ingredients are weighed out beforehand. Also make sure to melt the chocolate before starting so it’s not too hot when added.
Adding the star sprinkles: I find that gently pressing the stars into the cookies is all you need. I have tested dabbing the cookies with a wet finger to place the stars on top, which also works, but I find it easier to gently press them in.
Don’t have a cookie cutter? A glass will work just fine to cut out the cookies if you don’t have a cookie cutter.
The cookies stay crisp if stored in an airtight container and will keep well for up to 2 weeks.
More Italian cookies to try
Italian Cookies
Cuccidati (Italian Fig Cookies)
Italian Cookies
Tegole Valdostane (Hazelnut and Almond Cookies)
Italian Cookies
Italian Abbracci Cookies (Chocolate and Cream)
Italian Cookies
Pignoli Cookies (Biscotti ai Pinoli)
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Step By Step Photos Above
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Pan di Stelle (Italian chocolate cookies)
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment (see notes if making by hand)
- Baking tray (make sure it’ll fit in your fridge)
- Parchment paper
- Sieve
- Plastic wrap (cling film)
- 2 1/2 inch (6.5cm) Round cutter
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 245 g (1¾ cups) 00 flour, (can also use all-purpose flour)
- 30 g (¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 30 g (¼ cup) finely chopped hazelnuts, (see notes)
- 60 g (½ cup) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar (superfine sugar), can also use granulated
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
Wet ingredients
- 115 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 30 g (1 oz) dark chocolate (70%+ cocoa), melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg yolk
- 20 g (1 tablespoon) honey, (runny not solid)
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- White sugar stars, for decorating
- Granulated sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
Prep
- Measure out all the ingredients and set aside. Melt the dark chocolate in a small pan over a low heat for around 1 minute, until melted. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- Line a baking tray (one that will fit in your fridge) with parchment paper and set aside.
To make the dough
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder and powdered sugar into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, then add the caster (superfine) sugar, baking powder, salt and chopped hazelnuts. Mix everything for a few seconds until combined.
- With the paddle attachment running on medium speed, add the butter a little at a time. Mix for a few minutes until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.
- Next, add the honey, melted chocolate, large egg yolk, milk and vanilla. Mix again with the paddle attachment for around 2-3 minutes until the dough comes together. It will look dry at first but will soon come together.
- Bring the dough together and shape it into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half (keep the other half wrapped up). Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out your piece of cookie dough to about ¼ inch thick (6- 7 mm).
- Use your round cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as you can and place them on the lined baking tray. Bring the dough scraps together and roll it out again to cut out more cookies until your tray is filled.
- Place some white star sprinkles over the top of each cookie and press them in gently. An optional step is to sprinkle a small pinch of granulated sugar on top too.
- Place your tray of cookies in the fridge for about 15 minutes while you preheat the oven. Keep any remaining dough wrapped in the fridge until you are ready to roll it out.
Bake
- Preheat your oven to 180C/350F conventional.
- Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes. Let them sit for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Repeat the process with the remaining dough. You can bring the scraps together and re-roll as many times as you need to cut out more cookies. You should get around 30 cookies total.
Notes
- Chopped hazelnuts: If you can’t buy finely chopped hazelnuts, you can weigh the same amount (skins on are fine) and blitz them until finely chopped in a food processor.
- Dough consistency: If your dough isn’t coming together after around 3-4 minutes of mixing, you can add another ½ to 1 tablespoon of milk.
- Refrigerating the dough: This stops the dough from spreading too much in the oven, but if it’s too cold, it can tear when you’re rolling it out. If this happens, just bring the dough back together and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, then roll it out again.
- No stand mixer? You can mix the dough by hand. Add all the dry ingredients to your mixing bowl, then add the softened butter. Use your fingertips to crumble the butter and flour together until it resembles large breadcrumbs. Add the wet ingredients and mix everything with a wooden spoon until combined. Use your hands to bring the dough together and shape it into a flat disc. If the dough isn’t coming together, add another ½ to 1 tablespoon of milk.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
