Maltese Almond Krustini
Krustini are the Maltese almond version of the Italian Cantucci. Twice baked, these crunchy and brittle biscuits are perfect for dunking in coffee or tea.
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour
- 200 g caster sugar
- 200 g whole almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 60 g butter softened
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- zest of a lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175°C or 345°F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a bowl mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.
- To the flour mixture, add the liquids and start kneading. As soon as you start getting a dough, add the butter and knead it in.
- Once you get a dough, add in the almonds and knead until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. If the dough is a bit sticky, add a sprinkle of flour.
- Divide the dough in 4 or 6 pieces. This highly depends on how big you like your krustini. Roll each piece in a long strip.
- Place each strip on the prepared baking tray, whilst making sure that they are not touching.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until they have a nice golden colour. Take out them out from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.
- Slice the long baked dough to get the krustini. Transfer back to the oven, increase the temperature to 190°C or 375°F. Bake the krustini for about 4 minutes on each side until they are nicely golden.
- Let cool completely, and serve with a fresh cup of coffee or tea.