Pan Meino

Name: Pan Meino
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 38 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Lombarda
Ingredients: 150 g farina di mais fioretto; 150 g Plain flour; 120 g caster sugar; 120 g Unsalted butter; 2 medium Eggs; 10 g dried elderflowers; 8 g Baking powder; 1 g Fine sea salt; 25 g icing sugar

Pan meino are traditional Milanese sweet maize biscuits scented with dried elderflowers and dusted with icing sugar.

🇮🇹Italy· Lombardy

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 18 min
Total: 38 min
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Easy
Calories: 395 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 9 gathered

Servings

150 g farina di mais fioretto — fine maize flour
150 g Plain flour — type 00
120 g caster sugar
120 g Unsalted butter — melted and cooled
2 medium Eggs — at room temperature
10 g dried elderflowers — fiori di sambuco essiccati
8 g Baking powder — half sachet
1 g Fine sea salt — small pinch
25 g icing sugar — for dusting

Equipment

•mixing bowl
•baking sheet
•baking parchment
•wire cooling rack
•fine sieve

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 395 kcal
fat: 18 g
carbs: 53 g
fibre: 2 g
protein: 6 g
calories: 395 kcal

Instructions

1
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2
Whisk the eggs and caster sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale and slightly frothy.
3
Pour in the melted butter and whisk gently until combined.
4
Sift in the plain flour, fine maize flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
5
Add half of the dried elderflowers and fold everything with a spatula into a soft dough.
6
Divide the dough into twelve equal balls and flatten each into a thick round disc.
7
Arrange the discs on the baking sheet, leaving ample space between each biscuit.
8
Dust the tops generously with icing sugar and scatter the remaining elderflowers over them.
9
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes until golden around the edges and firm to the touch.
10
Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Chef's tips

Use farina di mais fioretto rather than coarse polenta bramata to avoid a gritty bite. If foraging fresh elderflowers, dry them gently in a warm, dark room before baking. Dust the icing sugar generously before baking to achieve the signature cracked, sugary crust.

Ingredient substitutions

farina di mais fioretto → fine yellow cornmeal
dried elderflowers → grated zest of one unwaxed lemon and half a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Storage

Store completely cooled biscuits in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to four days.

Reheating

These biscuits do not require reheating, but five minutes in a low oven revives their crisp crust.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Using coarse polenta meal, which produces an unpleasantly hard and granular texture.
•Overbaking the buns, which dries out the crumb instead of leaving it tender and crumbly.
•Omitting the icing sugar before baking, which prevents the classic sugary surface bloom.

Serving suggestions

Serve traditionally dipped into a small cup of fresh, cold pouring cream.Enjoy alongside a morning espresso or a glass of sweet Lombard dessert wine.Pair with a bowl of whole milk for breakfast as Milanese tradition dictates.