Cantuccini – Italian Biscotti Recipe
This Cantuccini recipe or Italian Biscotti recipe is really easy. This version of the Italian almond cookie has a softer bite versus the original hard one. For my “Baking My Way Around the World” challenge I decided to make my version of this Italian favorite.
The original Cantuccini Recipe
Cantuccini are Italian almond cookies. Cantuccini are also known as Biscotti. Biscotti means ‘twice-cooked’ in English. And that’s exactly how you have to make them. You have to bake the cookies twice so they turn out dry and crunchy.
Traditionally the cookies are dipped in Vin Santo, an Italian dessert wine. But nowadays they’re also served with coffee.
The original recipe is a well kept secret, the only thing that’s known about it is that it only contains flour, sugar, eggs, pine nuts and almonds. The traditional recipe doesn’t use any yeast or fat in it’s mixture. I’ve never tried to bake it that exact way, but I think I’ll try it one day. The original cantuccini biscotti are a pretty hard cookie, my version of the cantuccini recipe is still crunchy and dry but much easier to bite into, soft probably isn’t the correct word to use, but compared to the original ones they’ve got a soft, crisp bite.
Let’s get started with this Italian Biscotti Recipe
You’ll need quite a few ingredients for this, flour, almonds, pistachio nuts, limoncello, oil vanilla extract, lemon zest, eggs, sugar, salt, anise seed, baking powder and almond essence.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder and anise seed into a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, add sugar.
Oil.
Eggs.
Almond essence.
Vanilla extract (I’m using my homemade vanilla extract)
Lemon zest.
And limoncello.
Mix until the mixture is nice light and fluffy.
Add the flour mixture and mix till combined.
Add the almonds.
And the pistachio nuts.
And give it a quick mix. You’ll end up with this sticky yet delicious mess.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes put the dough on a floured work surface.
And give it a quick knead. You’ll notice that kneading in the flour from your work surface will stop the dough from being so sticky.
Divide the dough into two equally sized pieces.
And shape them into loaves
Put the loaves on a baking tray and into the oven. Bake till they’re golden brown.
Once out of the oven transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.
Cut the loaves into slices at a slight angle.
Transfer the slices back onto your backing tray, sliced side up. And bake for 8-10 minutes on both sides.
They should come out of the oven light brown with a slight darker brown at the edges. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Serve with a dessert wine or coffee. Or just snack on it because you want to…
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 50 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies |
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 8 g baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp anise seed ground
- 200 g sugar
- 125 ml oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp almond essence
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 lemon zest of 1 lemon
- 40 ml limoncello
- 125 g almonds roughly chopped
- 125 g pistachio nuts roughly chopped
Ingredients
| |
- Sift flour, baking powder, salt and ground anise seed into a bowl and set aside.
- In another bowl add sugar, oil, eggs, almond essence, vanilla extract, lemon zest and limoncello and mix about 5 minutes until you have a light and fluffy consistency.
- With the mixer at a lower speed, add in the flour mixture and mix till the flour is fully incorporated.
- Add the almonds and the pistachio nuts and mix until incorporated. At this stage the dough will be sticky, but don't worry. Cover your bowl with clingfilm and put the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- On a floured work surface lightly knead your dough. You'll find at this stage the flour you're kneading into the dough will make stop the dough from being too sticky.
- Divide the dough in two equal parts and shape them into loaves of 1 cm x 35 cm / 0,5 inch x 14 inch.
- Transfer the loaves onto your baking tray. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the loaves are golden brown. Take them out of the oven and carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
- When cooled, cut slices of roughly 1 cm / 1.5 inch thick and put the slices back onto a lined baking tray, cut side up. And bake for 8-10 minutes each side until they're light golden brown and just turning a little brown around the edges.
- Cool on a wire rack. When cooled, serve and enjoy with a nice cup of coffee.
Limoncello is an Italian liquor made from lemons. You can use lemon brandy as an alternative to limoncello.
Did you ever convert to U.S. measurements ?
I really want to make this recipe with my 13 year old granddaughter that loves baking.
thanks! Paula
Hi Paula,
Here are the US measurements, please note that these are rough estimates. I haven’t tested the recipe with these measurements yet:
4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon anise seed, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup oil, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon almond essence, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 lemon, 3 tablespoons limoncello, 3/4 cup almonds, 1 cup pistachio nuts.
gram equivalents? in ounces, cups etc
Hi Judy, I’m currently working on converting all my recipes to US measurements. I haven’t converted this one yet, I’ll bump it up on my list of recipes to convert. I’m hoping to convert it within the next week.