Cantucci all'Albicocca - Tuscan Cantucci with Apricot

Antico Forno Santi has been baking in Pistoia, in eastern Tuscany, since 1920 — over a century in the same artisan bakery. Among their classics: the cantuccio, the original twice-baked biscuit, born for the slow ritual of dipping into vin santo and for the long evenings of a Tuscan winter.

This is the fruit-forward version. Dried apricots make up half the recipe (50%), giving each biscuit thick, tender pockets of orange that taste like summer compressed into a winter cookie. Lighter than the cocoa or chocolate versions, with much less butter — a brighter cantuccio with a golden, fruit-streaked crust.

Equally at home with morning espresso, afternoon tea, or fresh ricotta and honey at breakfast. With vin santo at the end of dinner the apricot version asks for slightly drier dessert wines than the chocolate ones. Keep them sealed to preserve the crunch.