The Civitavecchia cookies resemble Tuscan cantucci in shape, but are much richer in ingredients. Almonds, hazelnuts, candied cherries, and lots of chocolate make these cookies truly delicious and irresistible.
The recipe is from dear Vittoria Tassoni from the blog Vittoria in Cucina, a member of Aifb, who shared the recipe with us a few years ago during one of the pre-Christmas evenings. In fact, these cookies are also perfect as a Christmas gift, wrapped in a nice transparent bag.
I wanted to take advantage of this recipe to offer these delicious cookies to the friends of “Il Club del 27” and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
This month with the Club, we will prepare many cookie recipes that can be given as gifts to friends and family. I recommend reading all the recipes in the article on the MTChallenge website; there are some wonderful things.
If the cookies prepared by the Club friends aren’t enough for you, I’ll leave you some really delicious recipes, perfect for the holidays.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 50-60 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, Christmas
- Energy 155.96 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 23.45 (g) of which sugars 14.95 (g)
- Proteins 2.29 (g)
- Fat 6.58 (g) of which saturated 4.10 (g)of which unsaturated 2.37 (g)
- Fibers 1.58 (g)
- Sodium 14.80 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 40 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Civitavecchia Cookies
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp butter (melted)
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate (chopped)
- 2 cups mixed nuts (half almonds and half hazelnuts, unshelled)
- 1 1/2 cups candied cherries (I used cranberries)
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 bean vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 packet baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- Aluminum Baking Sheet
Preparing Civitavecchia Cookies
Pour the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, seeds from the vanilla bean, and baking powder into a bowl. Mix to combine.
Add the melted butter and start kneading. When the mixture is fairly uniform, start adding the nuts, candied fruit, and chocolate pieces. Mix quickly to get a homogeneous, smooth, and soft dough that’s not sticky.
Divide the dough into six parts and shape into logs about 2.5-3 inches wide and about 1 inch high.
Place the logs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 12-13 minutes. It’s a little tricky to tell when the chocolate logs are done.
Remove them from the oven without turning it off, and let them cool slightly.
Then cut them into small pieces with a heavy, smooth blade knife and place them back on the baking sheet with the parchment paper on the cut side.
Bake them for another 5-6 minutes to make them slightly crunchy.
Once ready, let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.
Civitavecchia cookies can be stored for several days.
