Traditional Tuscan Biscuits

Cantucci are very popular oblong-shaped crunchy biscuits from Tuscany. They’re made with with flour, eggs, butter, sugar honey and almonds and served as dessert with a glass of Vinsanto. 
You can get the full recipe here.

Cavallucci from Siena have a soft texture and contain nuts and spices. According to tradition Cavallucci get their name, which loosely translates as ‘littlehorses’, because they were originally served to servants who worked in the stables. Pellegrino Artusi speaks highly of them in his famous cookbook, “The science of cooking and the art of eating well”.

These biscuits also originate in Siena, and are the first Italian dessert to receive the coveted PGI certification from the European Union. Made principally with almonds, ricciarelli are a typical Christmas biscuits in Tuscany, and here is how to make them at home.

Brutti Buoni are traditional biscuits from Prato made with crushed almonds, sugar, flour and eggs and usually baked after a long rising. Crispy on the outside and soft inside, “brutti buoni” (which literally means ugly but good) are usually served as a dessert with a glass of Tuscan Vinsanto.

It is a very simple sweet specialty, without added fats or preservatives, made up of two fragrant wafers composed of flour, sugar, milk, eggs and crushed almonds.

Amaretto Santacrocese is a traditional biscuit from Santa Croce sull'Arno (Pisa area) produced exclusively with almond flour, sugar, eggs and flavoured with lemon peel. It is said it was born in town at the Convent of the cloistered-order nuns in 1800. Today it's produced especially at Christmas.

In Italian folklore, La Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout the country on Epiphany Eve – the night between 5 and 6 January. To celebrate the Epiphany, or the “Befana”, some families use to prepare Befanini biscuits. Animals, stars, hearts, witches, befanini usually have many different shapes and are made from a mixture of flour, eggs, milk, butter and orange zest with coloured sugar on top. Although Befanini come from the Lucca area, today you can find them throughout the Region.