Cantucci (Biscotti di Prato)
Tuscany's twice-baked almond cookies: a lightly sweet egg dough packed with whole unpeeled almonds and a hint of orange, baked as logs, sliced on the diagonal and baked again until crisp.
Biscotti means "twice cooked," and in Italy the word covers any cookie; the twice-baked almond slices English speakers call biscotti are cantucci, or biscotti di Prato (Wikipedia:). The City of Prato says the first reference to the biscuit is in an 18th-century Prato manuscript, but that Antonio Mattei opened his biscotti factory in 1858 and won awards in London in 1862 and Paris in 1867. Visit Tuscany says the shop and its recipe are still there. Wikipedia describes the traditional recipe as flour, sugar, eggs, pine nuts and almonds that are neither roasted nor skinned, with no yeast and no fat. In 2016 "Cantucci Toscani" became an EU protected geographical indication; Visit Tuscany's page for the PGI lists flour, whole almonds, sugar, fresh eggs, butter and honey. Tuscans dunk them in vin santo.
Why it works the kitchen science
Two bakes
The first sets the log so it can be sliced cleanly, and the second dries each slice through, which is why cantucci keep for weeks.
Barely any fat
With only 2 tbsp of butter, the eggs and sugar make a dense, crunchy crumb built for dunking rather than a tender cookie.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 390°F (200°C), conventional, not convection. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Step 2
Stir the eggs and sugar together with a spatula until the sugar dissolves; there is no need to whip.
- Step 3
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a second bowl, add them to the eggs and mix, then work in the soft butter by hand. Knead in the almonds, Marsala and orange zest until evenly mixed.
- Step 4
Divide the dough in half on a lightly floured counter and roll each piece into a long, narrow log about 1 1/2 inches wide. Set them well apart on the sheet; they flatten on their own.
- Step 5
Brush the logs with the beaten yolk and bake 20 minutes, until golden and firm. Cool 5 minutes. Lower the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Step 6
With a sharp serrated knife, slice the warm logs on a slight diagonal about 5/8 inch (1.5 cm) thick. Lay the slices cut side down on the sheet.
- Step 7
Bake 15 minutes, until dry and light golden. Cool completely; they crisp as they cool.
Cantucci (Biscotti di Prato)
Serves 10 (3 cantucci each) · about 30 cantucci · 1 hr total
Dough
- 2 large eggs (100 g)
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (180 g) sugar
- 2 cups plus 3 tbsp (265 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (or a pinch, 0.5 g, of baker's ammonia)
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp (30 g) soft butter
- 3/4 cup (110 g) whole unpeeled almonds
- 2 tsp (10 g) Marsala or vin santo
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
To brush
- 1 egg yolk, beaten (thin it with a few drops of water if thick)
Method
- Heat the oven to 390°F (200°C), conventional, not convection. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Stir the eggs and sugar together with a spatula until the sugar dissolves; there is no need to whip.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a second bowl, add them to the eggs and mix, then work in the soft butter by hand. Knead in the almonds, Marsala and orange zest until evenly mixed.
- Divide the dough in half on a lightly floured counter and roll each piece into a long, narrow log about 1 1/2 inches wide. Set them well apart on the sheet; they flatten on their own.
- Brush the logs with the beaten yolk and bake 20 minutes, until golden and firm. Cool 5 minutes. Lower the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- With a sharp serrated knife, slice the warm logs on a slight diagonal about 5/8 inch (1.5 cm) thick. Lay the slices cut side down on the sheet.
- Bake 15 minutes, until dry and light golden. Cool completely; they crisp as they cool.
Adapted from GialloZafferano, "Cantucci," as written for about 30 pieces, converted to US amounts. GialloZafferano leavens with 0.5 g baker's ammonia and offers 2 g baking powder as the swap, which we use (1/2 tsp). Its 200°C and 180°C conventional-oven temperatures are converted to 390°F and 350°F. Italian 00 flour is replaced with all-purpose flour, our swap. ricette.giallozafferano.it. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Slice while the logs are still warm; cold logs crumble under the knife.
- GialloZafferano says cantucci keep up to 30 days in a tightly closed tin, away from moisture.
- For the no-butter version some cooks call original, GialloZafferano swaps the butter for one more egg yolk and adds a little flour if the dough is soft.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Antonio Mattei invented cantucci in 1858. Disputed: the City of Prato says the first reference is in an 18th-century manuscript and Mattei perfected the recipe in 1858; Wikipedia calls his version a rediscovery that became the accepted traditional recipe.
- Real cantucci have no butter. Disputed: Wikipedia says the traditional recipe uses no fat; the PGI "Cantucci Toscani," as described by Visit Tuscany, includes butter and honey. GialloZafferano notes "some believe" the originals had no butter.
- The almonds stay whole and unpeeled. Documented (Wikipedia; Visit Tuscany).
- Dunk them in vin santo. Documented as tradition (Visit Tuscany; Wikipedia).
- Catherine de' Medici loved them and added the almonds. Folklore: GialloZafferano repeats it without a source.
Every other cookie
Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
The recipe that started it all: a butter, white sugar and brown sugar drop cookie loaded with semisweet chips and walnuts, baked hot and fast until just golden.
Scottish Shortbread (Petticoat Tails)
Butter, sugar, flour and a little rice flour rubbed together cold, pressed into a round, scored into 16 wedges and baked low and slow to a pale biscuit color.
Nuremberg Elisenlebkuchen
Nuremberg's soft spice cakes: whipped egg whites, sugar and honey folded with ground hazelnuts, almonds, candied peel and Lebkuchen spice, spread on wafers, dried overnight and glazed with chocolate or sugar.
Moravian Spice Cookies
North Carolina's paper-thin holiday cookies: a molasses, brown sugar and shortening dough with cloves, ginger and cinnamon, chilled overnight, rolled as thin as you dare and baked in minutes.
Swedish Pepparkakor
Sweden's thin, snappy Christmas gingersnaps: butter, dark syrup and sugar melted with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, rested a full day, rolled thin and baked for 5 minutes.
Linzer Augen (Linzer Cookies)
Upper Austria's favorite Christmas cookie: a short almond and lemon dough cut into rounds, half of them with peepholes, sandwiched with apricot or red currant jam and dusted with sugar.
Danish Vaniljekranse (Vanilla Wreaths)
The Danish Christmas cookie behind the famous blue tin: a rich butter dough with ground almonds and a whole vanilla bean, piped through a star tip into little rings and baked crisp and golden.
Mexican Polvorones (Mexican Wedding Cookies)
Crumbly pecan snowballs: butter, shortening, ground pecans and powdered sugar pulsed into a short dough, rolled into balls, baked golden and buried in more powdered sugar.
Snickerdoodles
Soft, slightly cakey sugar cookies made tangy with cream of tartar, rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked hot until they crackle on top.
New York Black and White Cookies
Big, soft, cakey 4-inch cookies with a hint of lemon, iced half in vanilla and half in chocolate, the New York deli classic.
Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
The oat-box classic: butter, brown sugar and cinnamon with three cups of rolled oats and a cup of raisins, baked just until light golden for chewy middles.
Chinese Almond Cookies
Crumbly, lightly sweet bakery cookies made with lard, butter and toasted almond flour, crowned with a whole almond and brushed with egg for a shiny golden top.
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
One bowl, no flour, about 30 minutes: peanut butter, brown sugar and an egg with a few chocolate chips, flattened, baked 8 to 10 minutes and pulled while the tops just crinkle.
Levain-Style Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Inspired by Levain Bakery
Six-ounce mounds of brown-butter dough loaded with semisweet chips and toasted walnuts, chilled overnight and baked cold so they stay tall, crusty outside and molten inside. Inspired by, not official.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.