Soft cookies. There were afternoons filled with the scent of lemon and the warmth of a sincere invitation. Mine is a simple story, a memory tied to two different women, with different roots, but united by the same ability to bring a smile with a cookie. And that taste inevitably takes me back to a gentle figure from my childhood; Mrs. Concetta. She lived upstairs when, after moving to the North, we found ourselves as neighbors. For us kids, accustomed to mom’s legendary Easter taralli (who never had much confidence with pastry), Mrs. Concetta’s visits were an extraordinary event.

Sicilian to the core, she carried with her the secrets of a rich and colorful land. She baked delights that were pure wonder to us: cannoli, angel cake, and vurciddiati. And then, unmissable, were her soft cookies. They were moments of celebration: sometimes we even had chocolate cream…a rare commodity for us. And then Mrs. Nuccia, who in Rome, her place of origin, was called Sora Nuccia; when she called me for coffee, I knew her cookies awaited me: simple cookies, capable of filling the room with their citrus aroma. Simple, soft cookies scented with lemon. Two places so far apart and different, yet united by one recipe: soft cookies. They take a moment to make, a moment to finish. Because one leads to another, they are excellent with tea or a coffee latte, great paired with a layer of Nutella or fruit jam. And if you also cover them with delicious chocolate, they become a real treat.

And if you’re looking for other simple cookie recipes…