Almond Cantuccini Cookies Cooking Recipe – Cantuccini Recipe
Few meals in Tuscany end without a couple of cantuccini to dip into homemade or locally produced via santo, sweet Tuscan wine.
Serves 8-10
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 9 oz. (250 g) almonds
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 vanilla bean or vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (1 lb. 2 oz./500 g) granulated sugar
- 5 cups (1 lb. 2 oz./500 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon aniseed (optional)
- Salt
Cooking Method
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Toast the almonds for 10 minutes, then chop them.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Slit the vanilla bean in two lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.
- Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and light.
- Add the flour, baking soda, vanilla seeds, a pinch of salt, and the orange zest.
- Mix everything together, stir in the almonds and gently fold in the egg whites.
- Increase the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C).
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Divide the mixture into two balls and form two sausage shapes 2 in. (5 cm) in diameter.
- Place them on the baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes in the oven.
- As soon as they begin to color, remove them. Cut each ’’sausage” into slices approximately 1 in. (2 cm) thick.
- Turn down the oven to 340°F (170°C) and place the slices on the baking sheet.
- Cook them for 5 minutes then turn them over and cook for an additional 5 minutes, by which time the cantuccini should be nicely crunchy.
- Leave to cool.
Suggested food/wine match
- Badia Coltibuono, VinSanto—Chianti Classico DOC
Chef’s notes
For a chocolate version, replace 2 tablespoons of the flour with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
Store the cantuccini in a tin to keep them crunchy.
Did you know?
These crunchy twice-baked cookies traditionally come from the city of Prato, near Florence, and date back to at least the sixteenth century.
