![\"Sliced](\"https:\/\/ezb966kqson.exactdn.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sweetlore-photos-20261028\/4dccc7d56ed510e0202158f4d3ac5ceb558c967f9e1e56b36e8293180609ae60.jpg?strip=all&quality=90&webp=92&avif=55&w=1920\")
<\/p>\nCantucci are a Tuscan baked sweet made by baking a dough mixed with whole almonds into long, narrow logs and slicing them diagonally while still warm. The cut face of each slender slice shows a pattern of sliced nuts. Small ones are called cantuccini, and the artisanal products of Prato are also called biscotti di Prato.<\/p>\n
Although they look very similar, they differ in the fat added and in whether they are dried further after slicing. In addition, products sold under the Tuscan name are subject to a standard that specifies their production area and ingredients.<\/p>\n
The dough is made by combining eggs and sugar, then adding flour, almonds, and other ingredients and bringing it together. The whole almonds are distributed throughout, and the dough is shaped into long logs, set on a baking sheet, brushed with egg wash or similar, and baked. Unlike cookies shaped one by one, a long, narrow log is baked first and then cut diagonally while still warm. Because the nuts are cut together with the dough, the cut surface shows a pattern of pale dough and almonds.<\/p>\n
In recipes (the proportions of ingredients and the method of making) that return the slices to the oven once more to dry, moisture escapes from the cut surfaces as well, giving a hard, crunchy finish. On the other hand, the explanatory material on Prato\u2019s traditional food products and the home recipe published by a producer also include a process that ends with cutting the logs after baking them once.<\/p>\n
The word biscotti derives from \u201ctwice-cooked,\u201d but in modern Italian it broadly refers to biscuits in general. Therefore, not every sweet called biscotti is necessarily baked twice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sliced cantuccini-style sweets. Pieces of nuts can be seen in the cut surfaces. Photo: Anna.Massini, 2024-12-15, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the distributing site; no additional processing.<\/p>\n The formulation handed down by Antonio Mattei of Prato centers on five ingredients: wheat flour, sugar, eggs, almonds, and pine nuts. No butter or oil is added separately. The eggs and the nuts themselves contain fat, but the formulation differs from that of sabl\u00e9s<\/a>, which mix in plenty of butter.<\/p>\n The protected name \u201cCantuccini Toscani \/ Cantucci Toscani,\u201d whose production area covers all of Tuscany, has a specification that adds butter, honey, and leavening agents to eggs, sugar, wheat flour, and whole, skin-on almonds. Compared with Prato\u2019s five-ingredient formulation, the added fat creates differences in how they melt in the mouth, how they snap, and the fine air bubbles in the dough.<\/p>\n The name was registered as an EU PGI (IGP in Italian) in 2016, with almonds set at 20% or more of the finished product and butter at 1.5% or more of the dough. Almonds must also make up 17% or more of the dough before baking, and the specification requires them to reach 20% or more in the baked product. The butter percentage is relative to the weight of the dough before baking. Even under the protected name\u2019s specification, a second drying bake after slicing is optional.<\/p>\n Within Tuscany, some versions in Massa Marittima add a lemon aroma. Furthermore, in the Viterbo area of the Lazio region there is a related sweet, tozzetti<\/em>, which is baked and then sliced. Tozzetti use hazelnuts. Their shape resembles that of almond cantucci, but both the nut used and the region where the sweet is traditional are different.<\/p>\n Several kinds of biscotti displayed in a shop. According to the photographer\u2019s description, the third row from the left is cantucci. Photo: Gobonobo, 2021-05-14, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA (coordinates). Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. The publisher\u2019s Exif data records the use of GIMP; the specific changes are unknown. Reduced-size version from the distributing site; no additional processing.<\/p>\n Cantuccio is a word associated with corners and the ends of a loaf of bread. In old texts, it also referred to sweet bread sliced thin and dried, or to the crusty ends of a loaf. A 1629 cookbook mentions \u201ccantucci of Pisa\u201d at the table, and 17th-century records also describe dipping them in wine. Whether they had the same almond formulation as today is unknown, but the name has long been used for sweets that are sliced thin and dried.<\/p>\n In Prato, a biscuit recipe survives in an 18th-century manuscript by Amadio Baldanzi. In 1858, Antonio Mattei opened a workshop and developed almond biscotti. Recognition at exhibitions in London and Paris, along with the blue paper bag, also helped spread the town\u2019s specialty.<\/p>\n The Antonio Mattei shop in Prato. A sign displaying the name of the sweets can be seen. Photo: Massimilianogalardi, 2011-04-23, Prato, Italy. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the distributing site. Whether it was processed at the time of original publication is unknown; no additional processing this time.<\/p>\n Dipping one slice at a time briefly into sweet vin santo after a meal, just before eating it, is a well-known way to enjoy them in Tuscany. Soaked with wine, the dough softens and crumbles, and the flavor of the wine layers over the aroma of nuts and egg. They are also paired with coffee or cappuccino. Whether there is a second drying bake and whether butter is included change how they snap, and also make a difference in how they absorb the wine.<\/p>\n Biscotti di Prato<\/strong>: A name for almond biscuits bearing the name of Prato. They are also called cantucci, among other names.<\/p> Vin santo<\/strong>: A traditional wine of Tuscany and other areas, made mainly from dried grapes.<\/p> Amadio Baldanzi<\/strong>: An 18th-century scholar from Prato. He left a manuscript containing a formulation for sweets.<\/p> Antonio Mattei<\/strong>: An artisan who opened a workshop in Prato in 1858. He popularized almond biscotti, and his name is also that of the pastry shop that carries it on.<\/p> Tozzetti<\/strong>: A sweet made in the Viterbo area of the Lazio region and elsewhere, baked and then sliced. The Viterbo version uses hazelnuts.<\/p> IGP<\/strong>: An EU system that protects geographical indications. The production area and product specification are recorded for each protected name.<\/p> Article 2 of the specification for the protected name Cantuccini Toscani \/ Cantucci Toscani states a maximum length of 10 centimeters, a width of 2.8 centimeters, a height of 3 centimeters, and a weight of 15 grams or less per piece. Staff member B reread Articles 2 and 5 of the PDF this time. These figures are not applied to all cantucci in the general sense, and no figures are added to the main text. The fact that the EU Official Journal HTML was not read in this round of personal verification is recorded separately from the actual reading of the specification PDF.<\/p>\n<\/li> Tuscany Region, traditional food product sheet \u201cBiscotti di Prato\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Eggs, sugar, flour, and whole almonds; pine nuts; baking in logs and slicing while warm; the 18th-century manuscript; the regional lemon variant.<\/p>\n<\/li> Antonio Mattei, \u201cLa Ricetta per fare a casa i Biscotti di Prato\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The five ingredients, the soft dough, and the process from shaping logs and brushing with egg to slicing after baking.<\/p>\n<\/li> Antonio Mattei, \u201cBiscotti di Prato,\u201d ingredients and history<\/a> \u2014 A composition without added fats, the blue packaging, and pairings with drinks.<\/p>\n<\/li> Citt\u00e0 di Prato, \u201cBiscotti di Prato\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The workshop\u2019s founding in 1858 and the exhibitions, the packaging, and vin santo.<\/p>\n<\/li> Cantuccini Toscani production specification, published by the Tuscany Region<\/a> \u2014 Article 5: the percentage of almonds before and after baking and of butter in the dough; the optional second bake after diagonal slicing.<\/p>\n<\/li> EU Official Journal: the single document published for the 2015 application<\/a> \u2014 IGP ingredients, whole skin-on almonds and the 20% figure, butter, honey, and leavening agents, the texture, and the area covering all of Tuscany.<\/p>\n<\/li> EU Implementing Regulation 2016\/81<\/a> \u2014 Registration of the name in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/li> Treccani, \u201cCant\u00f9ccio\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The meaning of a corner or the end of a loaf, and the thinly sliced baked sweet.<\/p>\n<\/li> AtLiTeG \/ Valentina Iosco, \u201ccantuccio\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The 1629 usage, dipping in wine in 17th-century culinary texts, and the distinction between historical meanings.<\/p>\n<\/li>The Prato formulation and the specification for the Tuscan protected name<\/h2>\n
![\"Several](\"https:\/\/ezb966kqson.exactdn.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sweetlore-photos-20261028\/a6f558531812f0730310c40f6c828db3759787fb0ed0ff13a14adb928199d623.jpg?strip=all&quality=90&webp=92&avif=55&w=1920\")
<\/p>\nA name that goes back to the end of a loaf<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/ezb966kqson.exactdn.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sweetlore-photos-20261028\/e7f7c4216d87d58f72f5cc1636bd292f0ae4adf3e5207f4fc2633067bdbf04e3.jpg?strip=all&quality=90&webp=92&avif=55&w=1920\")
<\/p>\nDipping a slice in vin santo<\/h2>\n
Glossary<\/h2>\n
References<\/h2>\n
![Original image<\/a> \/](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Biscotti_tipo_cantuccini_di_prato.jpg\"){kind=link}
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![Original image<\/a> \/](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Biscottificio_Mattei.jpg\"){kind=link}