A recipe I have marked to try is Tozzetti, page 329, in the Dolci (Sweets) section of È Pronta by Benedetta Prodi.
The word Americans typically use to describe this type of cookie is biscotti, which means twice cooked. In Italy, these cookies are called by their specific names, not the generic name biscotti.
Recipes vary from region to region. Most Italians prefer to buy their sweets from their favorite local baker.
Bernadetta states Cantucci are always made with almonds, while Tozzetti are made with hazelnuts (nocciole). Both cookies have similar appearances. Both are biscotti because they are twice cooked. I'm recalling as a young child I loved a commercial brand of cookie, but my mother's food budget never included buying them often enough.
Just as I do now when I crave a favorite food, I found a recipe for that Anise Toast, which I now know to be Biscotti all'anice. My family loved them and I made them often. They were simple to make, using only flour, sugar, eggs and anise seeds. My instinctive love for Italian things started at an early age! Curious about that commercial cookie I loved, look what I just found...Italian roots: Stella D'oro Cookies
This morning I was ready to bake. I had a half bag of hazelnuts in my freezer and a fresh organic orange, from family orchards in Alta Loma.
Preparation time for the Tozzetti was about 1.5 hours. Tozza by the way translates to squat.
Roast and husk the hazelnuts
Before beginning the biscotti, I roasted the hazel nuts on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 F (180 C). Toss the hot nuts onto a clean wet dish towel. Enclose the nuts inside the now steamy towel, carefully rolling the nuts, back and forth for a few minutes. When the towel is opened, you will see most of the skins have come off. Don't worry about the few which still have skins.
I would do two things differently next time making Tozzetti:
1. Chop the hazel nuts by hand, instead of using the Cuisinart chop setting. They were too pulverized.
2. Just a little, smooth out the texture of the dough logs before baking.
I liked the idea of making the logs in different widths. It allows for different sizes of cookies. Be sure to cut the logs on an angle.
Tozzetti
250 g white flour
130 g hazelnuts
125 g white sugar
50 g unsalted butter
2 eggs
Zest from 1/2 orange
1/2 packet of lievito per dolci (8 g baking powder)
Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
Prepare the nuts.
Beat the butter, sugar, eggs and orange zest together in a large bowl. Add the chopped nuts.
Sift together the flour and baking powder and stir into the liquid mixture.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form three long logs of dough on the parchment paper.
Bake 350 F (180 C) for 20 minutes.
Carefully move the logs to working surface. With a sharp knife, slice on the diagonal, every inch.
Place the sliced dough back into the same parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on rack.
Tozzetti
Ingredienti
2 uova
125 gr di zucchero
50 gr di burro
scorza di 1/2 arancia
130 gr di nocciole tostate
250 gr di farina
1/2 bustina di lievito
1 pizzico di sale
Procedimento
- Mescolare in una ciotola le uova con lo zucchero, il burro fuso e la scorza d'arancia.
- Unire le nocciole tostate e tritate grossolanamente e girare.
- Aggiungere anche la farina con sale e lievito e mescolare bene.
- Trasferire sul piano di lavoro infarinato e lavorare per qualche minuto, poi dividere l'impasto in quattro parti.
- Formare dei rotolini con queste quattro parti e disporli su una placca con carta forno.
- Mettere in forno a 180 gradi e cuocere per circa 20 minuti.
- Tagliare i biscotti con il classico taglio in diagonale dei cantucci e rimettere in forno a 180 gradi per 10-15 minuti.
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Who made the Anise cookies?
ReplyDeleteMy sweet brother Gary made the Anise Toast because he was allowed to use my mother's electric knife !
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