Tuesday, April 15, 2014

TWD: Cantuccini

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Nick Malgieri



Cantuccini, cantucci, biscotti - whatever you want to call them, they are basically the same; a twice baked (almost rock-hard) cookie/biscuit. These are meant to be dipped in vin santo, coffee, or tea. I'm sure milk or hot chocolate would be just as good to dip into as well. At the risk of possibly cracking a tooth, you will want to dip...


This was one easy peasy recipe! And to think I almost passed on this one. No long chilling times or rest periods, or fancy equipment needed - just a bowl or two, a cookie sheet, and a serrated knife; and clean-up was almost non-existent!


My original plan was to halve the recipe. I did not want to have a hundred cookies (the recipe makes eight dozen!) laying around that I may be disappointed with; we made hazelnut biscotti in July 2012, and I was not all that impressed with them.

I ended up making only a third of the recipe, which yielded 18 cookies (I cut mine closer to a 1/2-inch thick, rather than the 1/4-inch thick as instructed); for when I went to the refrigerator to grab the eggs, I discovered I had only one egg. How could that be?

I guess it was meant to be - who needs that many cookies in the house, when you end up liking them.

Do make sure to visit the blogs of my fellow bakers to see their results with this recipe. I'm sure there will be a few different variations, as there usually is. You can click here to be directed to the list of their links on the TWD LYL: Cantuccini post.

Should you like to try your hand at making these, you will find the recipe on page 313 of Baking with Julia, or on Nick Malgieri's (the contributor of this recipe) website. (I did notice that the recipe on Nick's website uses a half teaspoon less of baking powder, than is called for in the book.)


13 comments:

  1. Kudos for making them despite the hazelnut biscotti disappointment.

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  2. I am glad you enjoyed them this time around, they look great :)

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  3. these were so easy--easy enough to make again when this batch runs out! looks great!

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  4. I almost skipped one of the eggs because I need new reading glasses and I've been procrastinating getting them. I was so frustrated when the dough wouldn't come together!!! Thank goodness I looked again! Your photos are gorgeous! Love the bokeh in the top one.

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  5. Beautiful pics! Your biscotti look wonderful. I missed out baking these (due to illness) but am going to make them this weekend for sure. Though I'm pretty sure I bought blanched almonds by mistake. d'oh!

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  6. So glad you liked this batch of biscotti! Wonderful photos!!!

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  7. Cathleen, very nice looking Biscotti! I always love lots of almonds or hazelnuts in mine, so this recipe does sound like a good candidate for a make-up.

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  8. Your biscotti/cantuccini look great. Loved the first picture.

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  9. These look great and I agree - they are very easy. Perfect for baking on a whim. Your lovely photos have me hypnotized looking at the interesting texture in the cross-section of the almonds....

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  10. I made the whole recipe and did not even come close to 8 dozen!!! They must be paper thin to get 8 dozen. Love your pictures!

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  11. you weren't alone in cutting the recipe back-i definitely do not need 80 cookies in the house, ever! yours came out beautiful!

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  12. Your cantuccini look beautiful, and yes, they are simple and easy to make.

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  13. Beautiful cookies. I love the serving bowl. I'm embarrassed to say that we managed to eat all of these over the course of a couple of weeks (our friends did help!).

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