B2Bytes – Episode 1: Deprecate THIS! (With Nina’s Sicilian Grandmother’s Cookie Recipe)

It’s “Emerging Tech” month at Bombora but I don’t know about you—as a B2B content strategist in the SaaS space I feel like the race to keep up with the changes in the landscape continues every month.

What do you do when you need an escape from the endless threats of cookie deprecation or your password about to expire for one of the 847 apps you have in your tech stack? I tend to run into the woods barefoot to get good and muddy.

I also cook and bake. Not sure why people always separate those two activities, though, so how about this: I make a lot of food. I even made some for Gordon Ramsay himself when I competed on MasterChef Season 13.

In this first episode of B2Bytes, I show you how to make some of my Sicilian grandmother’s cookies. The combination of orange, walnuts, cloves, and other spices makes for a super unique flavor that I think even Chef Ramsay would find surprising!

Nina’s Sicilian Grandmother’s Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

For the cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 g)
• 3/4 cup sugar 150 g)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (26 g)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature (98 grams)
• 1/2 cup walnuts finely chopped (56 g)
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk or more as needed (118 ml)

For the glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (60 g)
• 3 tsp milk
• Pinch each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg

Instructions

1. Get that oven preheating to 350 degrees F. Sift together all-purpose flour; sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder; cinnamon; cloves; nutmeg; baking powder and a pinch of salt—into a large bowl.
2. Add room-temperature, cubed butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour.
3. Stir in the orange zest and finely chopped walnuts.
4. Stir the beaten egg into the milk, then into the flour mixture. Add a bit more milk if you need to make sure that the dough holds together, but expect it to be pretty firm and sticky. Shape it into a weird brown football!
5. Grab wads of 2-3 tablespoons each and roll them into balls. Those can all go on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Don’t worry about leaving too much space as they don’t spread much.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, checking early to avoid creating rocks like my grandmother did. Cool on a wire rack while you stir up the glaze.
7. For the glaze, whisk powdered sugar and milk until you have something pourable but not too watery. Many “traditional” recipes don’t add spices to the glaze, but for me the clove is the signature flavor so I like to add more here. You can either dip cookie tops directly in or pour/brush over the top.
8. Once the glaze has hardened, you can store the cookies in an airtight container with wax or parchment paper separating the layers. Also a good idea to make a double batch and freeze some!

I’d love to know how these turn out for you! Hit me up on LinkedIn to show off your cookies, cause there ain’t no way advertising privacy changes are gonna take these away from us.

Love,
Nina Interlandi Bell