TwD: Baking Cantuccini with Julia

Can anything baked be bad when the scent of cinnamon permeates the air while baking? The answer is no. These heavenly smelling cantuccini, or classic Italian biscotti, were this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia assignment, and they were a snap to make. The very dry dough came together quickly with a bit of kneading. However, I encountered a bit of messiness while shaping the dough, as it got extremely sticky. I didn’t want to add more flour, so I wet my hands a little bit, and the dough became much easier to handle.

The cantuccini’s baking method lends itself to an afternoon inside when you want to catch up on bills, reading, or simple chores as the cookies require two trips in the oven with a 30 minute cooling in between. These cantuccini look shorter and “squatier” than their pre-packed coffeehouse counterparts, but their taste is so much better. Not much effort for a ton of little cookies that will keep for up to a month!

If you’d like to try your hand at these cantuccini, pick up a copy of Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America’s Best Bakers and join the bi-monthly baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie, where we choose recipes to collectively bake each month!