Cantucci a Classic Italian Almond Biscotti Recipe

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180° Celsius

2. Prep your baking tray by lining it with baking/parchment paper and a dusting of flour down the centre where you will put the log of Cantucci

3. Add your Eggs and Sugar into your mixing bowl, using your whisk attachment or handheld mixer and begin to mix on medium - high speed for at least 8 minutes until it starts to become a little lighter in colour and thicker.

4. Stop your machine and add in your packet of Lievito and continue to mix until all is incorporated which is usually only about 30 seconds or so it just needs to be mixed through properly

5. Once it is mixed switch to your paddle attachment if you have one, if not a handheld mixer is fine, but when you add the nuts you may need to mix in by hand with a spatula if your whisk or beaters are thinner as it may bend your mixer attachments. So just be mindful of that and your machine. This is why we also switch to a paddle as the whisk isn’t the best to mix in the flour & nuts

6. Add your flour in ½ in at a time and continue to mix after each addition just until its incorporated well

7. Once the second lot of flour is added & incorporated you can add in the nuts, you only need to mix for about 20 seconds until the almonds are all mixed through. It will be a little sticky/separated in the bowl rather than a fully formed dough but that’s ok we will form it into the log by hand

8. Take your mixture out of your mixing bowl and start to shape into a long log that fits on your baking tray. If your tray isn’t very long you can always make 2 logs. I make mine about 5cm width wise but you don’t need to get the ruler out just simply guestimate and try to shape it so that it is the same thickness all over from end to middle. If you do 2 smaller logs just watch your baking tine as it may bake quicker being smaller

9. Once shaped dust with a little flour on top and pop into the oven

10. Bake for 20 minutes until its nice and golden brown on top (again if your log is smaller or you made 2 just bake until the outside is nice and golden, but only golden not too super brown or burnt

11. Take out of the oven and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack, then we are going to slice it up and re-bake it once cooled

12. With a sharp knife (I use my bread knife) slice into 1cm thick pieces and pop back onto a baking tray with baking paper. You want the inside facing up this time so lay them flat, you don’t need heaps of room in-between since it is already risen, we are just crunching them up

13. Pop back into the oven to bake for another 12 minutes, flipping them half way. You want them to be toasty and brown but not burnt or too super dark so keep an eye on them. If you find some are browning quicker you can always take them out first and keep baking the rest. This will make them harder cookies if you prefer them a touch softer cook for approx. 8 minutes

14. Take out and let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They are delicious dipped into a coffee