March 24th
2006
It seems that everyone is so used to referring to these double backed treats as biscotti, but they really go by Cantuccini, as all cookies are biscotti in Italian. So what? Exactly. They're so good, who cares anyway...?
Noticing quite a few cantuccini recipes over the last months, I somehow never managed to try them for myself. Until recently, when I stumbled upon an Amazon recommendation ("The customers who bought this book also bought..yada yada" hypnotically attracted my click happy finger) and gave it a shot - despite the book's title being "Biscotti" as opposed to "Cantuccini". Aren't we gracious **cough** ? What sold the book, however, was Amazon's "Search inside"-functionality, which revealed gorgeous illustrations from the book - rarely used in today’s cookbooks.
Our last major food shopping spree included a monster-sized bag of pine nuts and the only way to escape a death by pesto was to quickly find alternative recipes using these nuts. Luckily the Pignoli Cantuccini recipe caught my attention and seemed to have temporarily saved us from severe pesto overdose. The combination with lemon was new to me, but a real taste surprise. So was the whole process, surprisingly simply: they're prepared in an instant and as soon as your guests/friends realize that the Cantuccini are not store bought but home baked - ONLY FOR THEM (well and some for me, too... ;) - they start to feel even more special.
The Pignoli Cantuccini go well with coffee, tea and - my favorite - ice-cold chocolate milk, but I already have the next recipes lined up, Cantuccini Gianduia (chocolate/nuts/coffee flavored) and Caramel Walnut (Kahlua/walnuts)...
However, before we can have a next batch, some unfinished business needs to be resolved. O. and I couldn't come to a mutual agreement with regard to the Cantuccini's texture. While I was relieved to find our first set turning out perfectly crisp, yet light enough to not have to drown them in tea for half a minute to make them chewable or, worse, putting ones perfectly fine teeth at risk, O. would have favored them "rock hard". But as long as I'm in charge of the bakery dept, it'll be my way or the highway (as O's aunt from Huntington Beach uses to say)!
Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F). Toast pine nuts in a shallow pan over medium heat for about 6 minutes or until nuts are fragrant and (lightly) browned. Then set aside to cool.
In a bowl beat soft butter and sugar until light and creamy, then add eggs, lemon zest and juice. Stir well.
In a separate bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder, then add to the first bowl and mix until well blended. Finally fold in the toasted nuts.
Divide the dough into two equal parts, form thin loafs and place on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper). Make sure they are neither too close to each other nor to the sides of the sheet. My dough was a little sticky, but when I dusted the board and my hands with flour, it worked fine.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack, allow to cool for a few minutes.
Place on a cutting board and carefully slice slantwise into 1/2 - 3/4 inch slices. Lay slices flat on the baking sheet and return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes (same temperature), turning them once after 10 minutes. Then remove from oven and let cool on the wire rack. Store at room temperature in an airtight tin or container.
Note: The original recipe suggested only another 10 minutes (step 6) for the second time in the oven (after turning once), and even with the exact temperature, I wasn't quiet satisfied with the Cantuccini’s color. Doubling the amount of time (20 minutes) gave them the golden color I had anticipated in the first place.
Pignoli Cantuccini
Recipe source: Biscotti, Lou Seibert Pappas, p.18
Prep time: 15min., baking: 40-50min.
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Ingredients (yield: ~30 pieces):
90g pine nuts
100g butter
150g sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp lemon juice
zest of one lemon
300g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
aaaaah, lovely, and so surprisingly easy, aren't they. but because they are so easy to make, it is also easy to overdose on them (or to spend the rest of your time in the kitchen making them for said friends.pffff.) I od-ed on them last summer, because they are just perfect for a nice sunny afternoon in a nice lawn chair. Cookies that aren't sticky. Great!
The most important thing in the process of creation, however, is a sharp knife.
love your pictures.
Thanks for the recipe! It looks very do-able :)
I had only ever heard of Cantuccini in relation to Vin Santo. It's the Italian desert wine. You dip your cantuccini in a glass of vin santo, waiting for it to soften - be careful you don't loose your cookie in the wine, though!
Cantuccini "must" be eaten with "Vin Santo" (Holy Wine :o) ) a very sweet wine like "marsala", "passito"... that could remeber Sauternes wine.
Simona
Nice photos!! I like very much your recipe!
"Biscotti" actually means "twice cooked", so while it is generalized for use with other cookies, it is actually an especially accurate term with regard to these.
Definitely "cantuccini", definitely "rock-hard" and definitely with "vin santo". Hey, I lived in Italy for 1,5 years, it must give me some authority ;-)
Love the matching tin and kitchen towel! Where do you find something like that?
Must keep this entry a secret from Theo lest he wants them this weekend, too!
My favorite biscotti has a texture that is not only hard but also dense in that a bit is accurate and takes off what you want but not with a teeth breaking effort.
With this combination there is also a satisfying melting element of sweet and salt.
Mmmmm, love to make biscotti and have not done so in a while. Superb pictures and feeling of warmth. Just by looking at them. Well done! I am bookmarking this recipe!
Nice photo!!!
Wow, you must have good knife skills (and of course a sharp knife) to get cookies shaped like this. All your food looks very careful prepared and delicious. Love it!
For the pinenuts - I recommend to store them in the freezer, so you get a longer shelf-life out of them.
By the way, I'm looking for the perfect Raspberry-Almond-Thumbprint-Cookie recipe. The cookies are crunchy and buttery and not to sweet. If somebody happen to have a recipe, I would love to get it.
I always believed biscotti meant twice cooked and therefore only referred to biscuits that had been through that process. But now as i write this comment, i realise that biscuit has the exact same root bi-cuit (cuit is cook in french), and certainly all english biscuits are not twice cooked.
I always love to see your photos - so fresh and crisp they seem as though they are lit from within. While I love Cantuccini with the requiste Vin Santo, these seem perfect partners to a strong cup of coffee. Brava!
I just tried the pinenut-cantuccini, paired with the orange panna-cotta (with an orange-segment-sauce from an other recipe). I know, it's like three desserts in one, but what a way to start the weekend! It was delicious and easy, and I will certainly prepare it again. Thanks for sharing your recipes, macht so weiter!
Finally! You can't imagine how happy I am to read the beginning of your post!!! As an Italian, everytime I open and english cookbook and I read Biscotti for something that is not a cookie, but a Cantuccio, I "rave in rage"!!!
Thanks!!!!!!!
Beautifull pictures!
Pinienkerngeb...
Wie auch immer die korrekte Bezeichnung f...
I couldn't resist: I made them today. Yummy! thanks for the recipe.
Lovely pictures indeed! I had the pleasure of receiving some delicious almond, ginger & pink peppercorn cantucci from The Passionate Cook last year, and have since made a batch of orange ones from Tessa Kiros' "Twelve" (she calls them biscotti and gives the same twice-baked explanation). Will hope to give your recipe a go as well.
Oh yummy! What a perfect thing to go with coffee tomorrow morning...thanks again for teaching me that it's cantuccini and not biscotti!
I'm with O. on the texture. I like my cantuccini rock hard so that you can dip them deep into a cup of coffee to soften them. Like yummy teething rusks for grown-ups, or maybe that's just me?
wowww ! it look easy to bake!! luvly and wonderfullllll !! I luv it. Thanx for ur recipe. I will try to do it and show u later!!!
Heaven's grace helped me to taste these cantuccini, and I must say: very delicious biscotti, Nicky. When it comes to dipping I am on Oliver's side (real Hard Rock Cantuccini). Ok, with an excellent Earl Grey it works, thinking of shortbread. But I suppose, that this softer version may taste a bit old after some days instead of the hard ones made for liftetime?
delish,...........
After eating the last of "the originals", I just tried a cantuccini recipe from my italian cookbook and it was a disaster! Something went wrong, I don't know what. Theo is laughing his a.. off! Have to do some research......
Thanks for the clarification on biscotti vs. cantuccini. I admit that I was previously ignorant of this difference. I too thought it referred to the twice cooking. But the real reason I needed to leave a comment is to tell you how very cute it is that your pink plaid towels perfectly match your little serving tin. Move aside, Martha ;-)
Hi Anne, I got both (tin and towel) from Butlers, which is local interior/home-design type store – the kind of store I can never pass by :)
Maike, Thanks for stopping by! Overdosing on certain food? Well, I consider myself a master of it ;) Whenever I discover something new and delicious, I want to have it over and over again, until I can’t stand it anymore…
Hi Leonieke, Simona, Tara,
Cantuccini with vin santo – a real treat! That way you can get a good buzz over dessert – just kidding ;)
Rose, We’re still working on getting the texture right, but having tried two more recipes from that very same book, it seems that all recipes end up in a softer version. Delicious nevertheless!
Hi Stefanie, Thanks for the tip with the freezer. Our’s is tiny though and space is pretty much used up :( Regarding the cookie recipe: haven’t tried those yet, but if all fails, perhaps egullet?
3 desserts: now that truly is an excellent way to start into a weekend and I’m glad they worked out, too! :)
Hi Sam, Piperita,
Thanks for chiming in on the nomenclature thingy, in fact an Italian friend triggered this post, because he never used the word biscotti for the Cantuccini he sold.
Hallo Ulrike, ‘Glad you like them and they turned out well!
Pille, “Ginger & pink peppercorn” – wow, sounds very intriguing! Tessa Kiros’ books are wonderful, aren’t they?
Hi Hande, Please do let me know if you find out more about how to get these cookies in better “shape”. I guess we have to have more "tastings" in the near future!
Hi Brett, Your comment cracked me up! Does that mean, you’d like to see me behind bars someday? ;))
These look so good and easy to make; I'll have to try to make them. ;-)
Best,
Paz
P.S. I'm behind in my reading here. It has probably been discussed before, so pardon the repetition but what is that fruit(?) shown above in the March banner? Looks interesting.
Que bel lavoro, ricordare y biscotti che faceva mamma e la nonna que buono...!!! In bocca al lupo.
Angelo Santella
Caracas - Venezuela
ok, yes, biscotti, cookies, etc.
i LOVE the towel! i saw the first photo and thought...does burberry bake biscotti now?!?! love it :)
Your pictures give such a cozy impression! I’m new to your website and really amazed! It’s so beautiful designed, the recipes and pictures make my mouth water :)
this website is sooo goood! the photos the recipe are amazing! i'll be back =)
Eigentlich müsstet Ihr eure Seite mit einem Disclaimer ausstatten, von wegen "Achtung, macht Hunger!" Sieht alles so lecker aus!
The key to the hardness of these type of cookies is the fat -- you will find everything from no fat at all = for the dentist on speed dial set only to loaded with butter = for those who prefer to gum their cookies. Most recipes lie somewhere in between using a moderate amount of butter or olive oil -- all you have to do is reduce or increase the butter here and you can make them harder or softer to your taste. I, like you, prefer a cookie that is crunchy but does not require a dip to bite. Nothing is worse than the soft biscotti and cantucci so often found at American coffee shops -- a sure sign of margerine or shortening and too much of it. Just because you shape Tollhouse cookies into a loaf and cut them doesn't make them Italian.... I can't wait to try your combination of lemon and pinenuts!
Till now I always baked 'Biscotti di Prato' (my cookbook about 'Dolci italiano' told me that they are the cookies for Tuskany). But the Pignoli Cantuccini have a much better, finer taste due to the butter (my 'old' recipe was only with eggs) and the pine nuts instead of roated almonds. The book where you got the recipe from is also available on amazon.de so maybe next time I order there I will buy it. Warum schreibe ich Euch eigentlich in Englisch, wo ihr doch perfekt deutsch könnt? :-)
Hi,
if I would bake them again 20 minutes they would be burned!!! How can ovens be so different. I used to let them dry in the oven and they are just fine, lightly brown.
Ulrike from Bavaria
Hi Ulrike,
Have you ever tried an oven thermometer? Since I've been using one myself, I started to realise how inaccurate my oven works. A deviation of 20 and more degrees Celcius is standard. My mum had always complained about her failures when making cakes, until I checked her -admittedly rather old- oven with a thermometer. Hers showed an even higher delta between actual temperature and the dialed temperature...
That said, I never fully rely on given baking times, especially when trying a recipe for the first time.
Beautiful photo's, interesting recipe. Should you be interested in my own version of these lovely hard biscottini, you can find it here: http://cucinadelsole.typepad.com/the_sunny_kitchen/2006/09/cantuccini.html Ciao! Nicoletta
I regularly make walnut and rosemary cantucci from the wonderful recipe in John Ash's great book From the Earth to the Table , and they never fail. He meringues the egg whites and mousses the yolks with the sugar, result is crisp and porous and compulsive eating...
Frances, Thanks for the tip, just added it to my Amazon wish list...
Hi Nicky,
thanks a lot for wonderful recipe ...
Have been wanting to make these for ages & finally did on Friday - Fab - lovely colour made with light muscovado. Thanks!
Looks great, now I need to get a quantity of pine nuts at a reasonable price. Also, I like to put a little glaze on my "biscotti" of confectioners sugar and whichever liqueur I feel would complement the cookie.
The look great - and I *love* that tin and the matching towel! Just gorgeous!