The history of Cantucci biscuits

Cantucci or Cantuccini are dry cookies with almonds, obtained by cutting a loaf of still warm dough into slices. They are among the most typical Tuscan desserts. The origin of Cantucci without almonds goes back to the 16th century, and the name seems to come from “canto” (meaning “horn”, meaning the part of the bread where there is more crust) or from “cantellus”, meaning a piece or slice of bread in Latin.

The name cantuccini can be found in the Accademia della Crusca dictionary, which in 1691 gave the following definition: “a sliced cake, made of fine flour, with sugar and egg white”. The most famous Cantucci of that time was made in Pisa. The first documented recipe for this baking is preserved in the State Archives in Prato. It is a manuscript by Amadio Baldanzi, an 18th-century scholar from Prato. In the 19th century, Antonio Mattei, a confectioner from Prato, perfected a recipe that later became a classic. The “Mattonella” workshop exists in Prato to this day.