Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cantuccini

I made these Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cantuccini last weekend at the 2nd annual Cape Town Cookie Swap. I don’t bake a lot of coolies so don’t have a favourite cookie recipes so took the opportunity to page through all my cookbooks and choose a new recipe to make.

Katie Caldesi wrote a wonderful Italian cookery book called The Italian Cookery Course. The book is beautiful, interesting, easy to understand and covers the Italian culinary map. I decided to make the Orange and Pistachio Cantuccini and replaced the orange peel with dark chocolate chips. These biscuits are a winner and so easy to make. Flavourful and still a bit soft which I prefer to dry rock hard biscotti. Biscotti is usually called cantuccio, a word that means ‘corner’ but in the past meant the crust or heel of a loaf of bread. The words biscottini and cantuccini are diminutives that refer to smaller versions of biscotti or cantucci.

The twice baked Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cantuccini cookies are crisp and aromatic, perfect for dipping into coffee, a glass of Vin Santo or another sweet, dessert wine.  Or they are simply good enough to enjoy them on their own. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cantuccini and if you’ve made the biscuits, do share it with me by tagging and following @heinstirred on Instagram. It is always a treat to see the recipes made and enjoyed.

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Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cantuccini

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Ingredients

  

• 75 g whole blanched almonds
• 75 g shelled & skinned pistachios
• 250 g plain flour
• 150 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips
• icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, Spread out the almonds on a baking tray and lightly toast in the oven for 5 minutes, taking care not to burn them.
• To give a brighter green look to the pistachios, blanch them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain. Slip off the skins.
• Mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the nuts, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate chips. Stir to form a thick but soft dough. Divide the mixture into thirds. Form each third into a sausage shape by rolling it with your hands in icing sugar. Place the rolls on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and flatten slightly. Bake for 20 minutes until rather dark golden brown.
• Remove from the oven. Cut each roll diagonally into strips about 5mm - 1cm wide. Spread the strips in a single layer on baking trays and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Leave to cool.