Struffoli (Italian Honey Balls)

Struffoli or Italian Honey Balls are tiny balls of fried dough tossed in a delicious sticky honey sauce and decorated with festive sprinkles. It’s such a fun and impressive Italian Christmas dessert that the whole family can get involved making! Struffoli are wonderful deep fried golden honey balls originating in Naples, in fact, my whole five years living in Tuscany I never saw these at Christmas time once although there were plenty of Ricciarelli and Panforte around. It’s amazing how regional Italian food is. And because I love everything about Italian cuisine and Christmas I had to learn how to make these, they are just so pretty and festive! You might also see these honey balls called Cicerchiata (Abruzzo), Scalilli (Calabria), or Pignolata (Sicily) but whatever you call them they are sweet, sticky and delicious. And although they might look like mini fried doughnuts they don’t have that kind of texture, they’re crispy on the outside with a slightly softer middle and the honey makes them sweet, sticky and utterly delicious.