Cantucci with almonds and chocolate
Traditional Italian cookies from the Tuscany region. These cookies are sold in every shop and cafe in Tuscany. There wasn’t a candy shop or coffee shop in Florence that didn’t have them. They are mostly made simply, using unpeeled almonds for filling, but there were also variants with almonds and chocolate, variants with pistachios.
These cookies are special because they are baked twice, first in the loaf and then the loaf is cut into pieces, and the cookies are baked once more.
Very nice cookies to enjoy with morning coffee. In Tuscany, these cookies are served with Vin Santo dessert wine but these are also good to eat without anything.
Preparation time: About 1.5 hours including baking
Level: Medium
Quantity: About 60 cookies
Ingredients:
120 g of butter
600 g of flour
300 g of sugar
200 g of unpeeled almonds
200 g dark chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
Grated zest of two lemons
1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
A little sea salt
Preparation:
- Combine butter, sugar, egg, vanilla sugar, salt, flour, and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Knead this mixture into a smooth dough, add almonds and chocolate, and knead into the dough.
- Shape the dough into four or five oblong loaves with a diameter of about 4 cm and place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
- Bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes until the dough loaves become slightly golden brown.
- Carefully put the dough loaf on the cutting board while it is still warm and cut slices about 2 cm thick with a very sharp knife, place the slice on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown.
- Store in an airtight box.
Ready!!