Ok, it seems that winter (Autumn is definitely gone here) is taking its toll on me. Sick again with a flu bug. Which means, confined home again and… baking biscuits again!
One of my many longings as an expat Italian are industrial Italian cookies. Among them, those called “abbracci”, hugs, were possibly my all-time favorites and I was really missing their lovely slight crunchiness and mild chocolaty taste. Luckily enough, I recently bumped into a recipe to make them at home so when I felt like I could finally leave the sofa, I put on my heaviest coat and ran to the grocery at the corner (exactly 15 steps away) to get the few missing ingredients. And here is the method to make these little wonders yourself:
How to:
- Ingredients Vanilla Dough: 250 g (2 and 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, 120 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar, 95 g (3.4 oz) softened butter, 1 egg, 3 table-spoon double cream, 1 table-spoon honey, 1 and 1/2 tea-spoon baking powder, few drops vanilla extract, a small pinch of salt.
- Ingredients Chocolate Dough: 250 g (2 and 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, 120 (1/2 cup) caster sugar, 100 g (3.5 oz) softened butter, 1 egg, 30 g (1/4 cup) cocoa powder, 40 g (3 table-spoon) milk, 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, few drops vanilla extract, a small pinch of salt.
- For each of the two doughs separately, mix the ingredients together and shape into small balls. Take a ball of each dough and shape into long and thin cylinders. Cut about 7 cm (2.5 inches) long pieces from each cylinder and put one over the other, forming a black and white closed circle. Place the circles over a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake for 11-13 minutes at 180 degrees (Celsius, 356 Fahrenheit).
CONSIDERATIONS: These cookies looked and tasted like the real thing and, being home-made, were 100 times healthier. They are perfect in the morning with a cup of hot caffè latte, the typical Italian home breakfast. They can keep fresh for a couple of weeks if tightly closed and would make a nice give away gift.
How beautiful! They look delicious.
How cute! I love they’re called hugs because they look like the dough is hugging! Plus, we use “O” for hug, at least in America, when we write XOXO it means kisses and hugs, kisses and hugs.
Beautiful double toned cookies …. chocolate an vanilla..isn’t that a magic combination!?
I remember eating these in Italy for breakfast, although I suspect yours like you said are 100x better being home made and not from a packet!
Hope you are feeling better soon.
thank you girls for stopping by… I think I am going to warm up some milk and indulge into these cookies again.
xoxoxox
I hope the little hugs went a long way to making you feel better. They would be perfect with a nice cup of coffee of tea. Feel better.
hi Karen, so nice to see you again. yes, the cookies were really comforting, I wish they hadn’t disappear so quickly.
Ciao. Adoro gli Abbracci e li faccio spesso in inverno! Che buoni!