A delicious homemade treat makes the perfect Christmas gift. Great with coffee or a herbal tea. Perfect soaked in red wine. Today’s cantucci are definitely not the original authentic recipe. But we’re not traditionalists, we just want to make our favorite cookies as Christmas-themed as possible. We hope we have succeeded with a touch of ginger, dried fruit and chocolate for a delicious festive twist.
Cantucci spiced with cacao and extra virgin olive oil
Ingredients
3 fresh eggs
grated peel of an organic orange
250g caster sugar
360g flour
15g Dutch processed cocoa powder
75ml Maliosa Aurinia extra virgin olive oil
75g peeled almonds
75g shelled pistachios
25g candied ginger
25g candied pineapple
1 teaspoon ginger powder
50g dark chocolate
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of table salt
Method
Preheat oven to 170°C. Coarsely chop the almonds, pistachios, candied fruit and chocolate.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the eggs, grated orange zest and sugar, and beat until smooth and frothy. Add the extra virgin olive oil and beat again briefly until the oil is incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Slowly combine the dry ingredients with the wet ones and stir until incorporated. Finally add the dried fruit, candied fruit and chocolate. Stir again to combine.
Line a tray with baking paper. With wet hands, shape the dough into two logs and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile lower the oven to 150°C. With a sharp knife, cut the logs diagonally to get slices with a thickness of about 1cm. Place the cantucci on the baking paper and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before transferring to a tin container where the biscuits can be stored for 1 week.
Text, recipe and photo by Sara Milletti
