Cantucci with Hazelnuts and Raisins
My variation for the classic Tuscan cookies.
Ingredients
- 200 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 g baking powder
- 315 g flour 00
- 100 g peeled hazelnuts
- 70 g raisins
- 40 g butter at room temperature
- salt to taste
- 150 g dark chocolate (I used 55%)
Instructions
- To prepare delicious Tuscan cantucci, start by toasting the hazelnuts: place your peeled hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 7-8 minutes at 190 °C (374 °F).
- Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a bowl with the sugar and a pinch of salt until light and fluffy. Add the flour and stir, then incorporate the baking powder, hazelnuts, grapes and butter.
- Once everything is mixed together, here comes the most complicated part: forming the strands that will then become our cantucci. Dust your work surface with flour and pour the dough over it. Then divide it into two parts and, with floured hands, roll the dough in flour until you create a filoncino about three fingers wide. Do the same process for the other half of the dough.
- Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them in a static oven preheated to 200°C (392°F) for 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove them from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes.
- Now it's time to shape your cookies! With a sharp stroke of a knife, cut the strands into diagonal slices about 2 cm wide; be careful not to make them too thin, or they will crumble.
- Finally, place your cantucci back in the oven lying on the baking sheet and toast them for 20 minutes at 320°F (160°C). Toasting is essential to extend the shelf life of the cantucci.
- Melt the dark chocolate, or another chocolate of your choice, and pour it into a glass, or high-sided container. Dunk your cantucci in it and let them cool. Once the chocolate has solidified let yourself be overwhelmed by the scent of these cookies, enjoy!!!