Halloween Treats....Rame di Napoli (with carob powder instead of chocolate)

Halloween is on its way. All of you who celebrate it must be super excited and planning all your outfits, makeup and organizing scary and fun parties. In Italy I never used to celebrate Halloween but around the same dates we used to celebrate the feast of all saints which was a way to remember our dear ones who unfortunately had left us. In Malta Halloween is being celebrated more and more through kids parties or by simply getting your kids dressed up and we can find scary decorations in most home decor shops. And lots of teenagers and younger as well as older adults celebrate it by attending club and disco parties with scary themes. Anyway, I have never really experienced the real Halloween atmosphere I saw on American films and also on you tube. And I have never done trick and treat around my neighbours' houses. The main tradition linked to this time of the year for me is eating Rame di Napoli which are traditional Sicilian treats for the all saints feast. So this year although I haven't decorated my house for Halloween and have no plans to celebrate I felt the need to relive my one tradition. That's why I made Rame di Napoli, which by the way aren't available for sale in Malta. 

So if you are Sicilian or love Sicily or are simply looking for a new Halloween treat or want to try a different dessert no matter the time of the year, here is my recipe for le Rame di Napoli or i Ram' Napoli in the Sicilian dialect. My recipe used no chocolate which is great for those of you who are allergic or want to avoid caffeine or even try healthier dessert options. Although the taste is not identical to the original ones it is definitely tasty and worth trying.

INGREDIENTS

320g flour 00

1 tablespoon Sweet Freedom natural sweetener syrup

50g granulated sugar

50ml orange juice (2 small oranges)

100 ml soy milk

40g carob powder

1/2 sachet lievito per dolci pane degli angeli (an italian baking powder with vanilla used for desserts)

40g soy butter

pistachios whole but peeled

for the icing:

40g carob powder 

40g soy milk

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1 teaspoon natural sweetener syrup

1 tablespoon icing sugar

PREPARATION

Simply mix all the ingredients for the biscuits (except those for the icing) until you get a sticky quiet hard consistency. Then spoon the mixture on your baking dish covered with baking paper. Top each biscuit with few pistachios and bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime you can mix the ingredients for the icing in a pot and cook them over heat until you get a creamy consistency.

When the biscuits are ready let them cool and then top with the carob icing. 

This recipe makes 16 medium to large biscuits. Each biscuit has 123 calories if topped with the icing and 108 calories without it. Except for the flour (which is not the healthiest) it is quiet low on sugar and has carob instead of chocolate. So it makes a healthier desert than many other ones. If you want an even healthier but delicious treat check my spelt rock cakes.

Tell me in the comments below which is your favourite Halloween treat? Happy Trick & Treat!

STAY FAB