During the Christmas period these are the perfect biscuits to give as a gift together with a nice bottle of vin Santo you can’t go wrong. You can prepare them well in advance . If you store them in a tin box or an well sealed container, they will remain nice and crunchy . Obviously you can use other nuts besides almonds like pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts or you can add some chocolate, and to make it even more Christmasy you can put some cinnamon in the dough.
Ingredients.
- 270g 00 flour
- 150g sugar
- 150g almonds
- 2 eggs
- 8 g baking powder
- grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt
Preheat the oven in static mode to 180 C
In a large bowl, shell the eggs, add the salt, vanilla extract and sugar,mix the ingredients with a whisk.
Add the flour, the sifted yeast and Lemmon zest, mix until the dough becomes homogeneous.
Add the almonds, knead the dough until the almonds are well distributed.
Put the dough in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
Divide the dough ( witch could be a bit sticky) into 2 parts and form loves on a baking tray lined with baking paper
Bake in a static oven for about 25 minutes, remove them and let them cool just a bit.
With a bread knife cut each loaf into slices, put them back in the oven for an other 10 minutes, (turning them half way trough) they are perfect when they are golden brown.
Cantucci can be kept in a tin box or hermetically sealed in a glass jar for up to one month.
Done !
Buon appetito.
Zia Tata’s kitchen 