Cantucci di Prato [Almond cookies]

Ingredients

gr 500 flour
gr 250 sugar
gr 150 bain-marie melted butter
gr 200 sweet almonds
4 whole eggs
baking powder
lemon zest

Method

On the baking-board make a volcano shaped mound with the flour, sugar, eggs (keep 1 yolk aside for later), lemon zest and baking powder and knead by hand adding the butter. The resulting dough should be soft. Add the almonds and knead a bit more. Divide the dough into small loaves the length of the baking tray. Before placing this in the hot oven, brush the loaves with the beaten egg yolk you had kept aside, then bake for about 15 minutes. After baking, cut the loaves obliquely to give the cookies their characteristic shape ('cantucci' means 'corners'...), then return to the oven for 5 minutes to finish baking. Serve with Vinsanto sweet wine.