Oh this is so worth the effort!  Quite simply this is Cantucci or Almond Biscotti.  I know, you’ve made biscotti before.  But this recipe has an ingredient which I’ve never had in biscotti.  The finished cookies had a great taste and I thought this would make an ideal addition to the Christmas table.

This is the time of year when I typically take stock of my liquor cabinet.  Made a note of what I needed to  buy to keep my family and friends entertained and was all set to close the cupboard doors when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bottle.  Don’t recall seeing it before so I reached for it and lo and behold, a half size, unopened bottle of Vin Santo.  What?!?  Now I don’t ever recall purchasing this so it must have been a gift from someone.  I’ve had it before on one of our trips to Italy, and like most fortified spirits, I knew why it was in the back, next to the ports and sherries.  To rich for my blood.  But none the less I was determined to uncork and use it in a Christmas treat.  My first thought was fruit cake – which I may still do, but going through my recipe archives, I found this recipe for Cantucci, marked “untried”, that called for it. 

This makes an extremely sticky dough, all the liquid in it – mostly Vin Santo, contributes greatly to that.  It is also rich calling for 2 eggs and 2 additional yolks as well as honey.  I found keeping my hands wet (washed and shaken, not dried) prevented the dough from sticking to them.  The flavor of the wine and honey comes through in the baked cookie.  That’s a good thing as traditionally the wine is served with cantucci.  Because of all that richness, you want to cut it small.  I got a approximately 90 pieces from 3 logs, roughly 2″ wide by 12″ – 14″ long.  But feel free to adjust the sizing to your needs.  The whole almonds bake up beautifully and allow for clean slices after the first bake.  If you don’t have any Vin Santo, just use any fortified wine that you like the taste of, a good port, madeira, even ice wine would work nicely (okay definitely making an ice wine treat for Christmas 2024!).

If you find the dough completely unmanageable, add a bit more flour to make it workable, but not too much.  You will run to the fridge often to sneak in additional cookies to have with coffee or even just after dinner.  It isn’t too sweet so you can enjoy it more.  An adult treat!  Make it and take it  to a cookie swap (but only if equally nice cookies are being swapped) or just make it and enjoy it as the world scurries to get ready for the big day!  As always – enjoy!

Ingredients
  • 3 cups cake & pastry flour, plus more as needed
  • 3/4 granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup honey, grease the measuring cup before adding the honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 yolks
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup vin santo or sherry, port, ice wine
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup whole almonds, skins-on

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350f and line a baking sheet with parchment – set aside
  2. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, honey, eggs, yolks, butter, baking powder, vin santo and salt
  3. Use a wooden spoon to start bringing it together then switch to using your hands – wet and shake your hands to remove excess water before mixing
  4. Knead until a dough forms – it will be sticky.  If too sticky add a bit more flour
  5. Add the almonds and continue to knead until you can portion out the dough into 2 or 3 balls
  6. Place each ball on the parchment lined sheet and (again using slightly wet hands), shape each into a log about 2″ x 12 – 14″
  7. The logs don’t need to be perfect, baking will smooth out any rough edges
  8. Bake for about 25 minutes then remove from the oven – leave the oven on
  9. Allow, dough logs to rest for 5 minutes on the baking tray to firm up and maintain structure
  10. Slice the logs on the diagonal – mine were between 1/4 and 1/2″ wide.  Use a sharp knife and make one firm cut
  11. When all the logs are cut, gently move them so they lay on their sides – this will make the second bake faster and more even
  12. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes
  13. Remove from the oven and let cool before eating and storing