Biscotti occhio di bue

Growing up in the U.S as your typical Nickelodeon viewer — Rugrats, anyone? — I remember being completely captivated by the commercials for a breakfast cereal called Cookie Crisp, shown regularly at episode breaks. The advertisements were fast-paced and attention-grabbing, featuring a cartoon wolf who went to extensive lengths to get his hands (paws?) on a box of Cookie Crisp — a confection consisting of mini chocolate chip cookies that passed as cereal once poured into a bowl with milk and served with a spoon. While my 30-something year old self might now raise an eyebrow at the idea of starting a day with a bowl full of cookies, my 8 year old self found it genius (something I can now recognize as “effective marketing”). I loved chocolate chip cookies. I loved breakfast. Why not combine the two?

Unfortunately, sugary cereals were not allowed in our household — plain Cheerios and Chex only — and thus Cookie Crisp never made it in to our pantry. I identified strongly with the Cookie Crisp wolf whose attempts to try the cereal were thwarted at every turn. I never got to have “Cookies for breakfast!” like the advertisement boasted. Until, that is, I moved to Italy.

For those of you who aren’t in the know: the typical Italian breakfast is sweet, not savory. A coffee plus a slice of jam tart (crostata) or cake (ciambellone) are suitable breakfast fare, as are cookies, or biscotti. Pay a visit to an Italian supermarket and you’ll find a whole aisle dedicated to biscotti da colazione, or breakfast cookies, specifically designed to be enjoyed with and dipped into your morning coffee. There are rows upon rows of everything from chocolate-y pan di stelle, vanilla-tinged macine, and sugar encrusted galletti, among many, many others. Evidence below.

If you opt to have breakfast not at home but at your neighborhood bar (cafe) you’ll find yet another kind of cookie for breakfast: the classic biscotto occhio di bue, proof that the reach of the biscotto da colazione goes far and wide. Translated to “bulls-eye” in English, occhio di bue (oh-kio dee boo-ay) is a sandwich cookie, wherein the jam acts as the delicious, edible “target”. Along with cornetti and the aforementioned ciambellone and crostata, they are classic Italian bar fare, the perfect, quick accompaniment to your caffe’ al banco. They are crunchy, plain, and just sweet enough.

But: voracious (and slightly arrogant?) baker that I am, I figured I could bake better occhi di bue at home. I wanted a sandwich cookie with more flavor and flair than the ones at the local bar, because — as my 8 year old self knew all those years ago — a cookie for breakfast is a special thing. I added salt and vanilla extract to the dough — two ingredients that are not a given in Italian sweets, but make all the difference — and replaced the humble jam with Nutella, because Nutella > Jam. I dusted the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar, for no reason other than to make them extra pretty. The result? A dozen or so crisp, buttery occhi di bue joined together with an abundant swirl of rich, chocolate-y Nutella. Consider yourself warned: the cookies are reminiscent of shortbread and therefore completley moreish on their own, and throwing Nutella into the mix renders them even more addictive. One (or two, or three) of these are divine with a morning coffee, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Moral of the story: my younger self need not have worried — cookies for breakfast would be possible, just when I was a grown-up (and now are you for you, too).

Having said this: If you’re more of a fruit-and-yogurt for breakfast sort of person (yawn) and the idea of starting your day with a cookie does not appeal — know that biscotti occhio di bue are also delicious as a snack with tea, or as a simple dessert.

A couple of notes: I developed this recipe using a kitchen scale to be extra precise, so I have put the quantities in grams with the cup/tablespoon equivalents — use a scale however, if you have one. If you want a more subdued cookie, strawberry, apricot, or blackberry jam would make a great filling instead of the Nutella. If you’re me, genius will strike after you have photographed these cookies, and you will run to the store to buy crema di pistacchio to fill the rest. Feel free to make the dough by hand if you do not have a food processor. Work the butter and flour together using your fingertips, then stir in the powdered sugar and salt and then the egg yolks and vanilla. Next time I make these I might experiment with adding cocoa powder to the mixture, to make chocolate occhio di bue. Finally, if you want to have occhio di bue on hand whenever a craving strikes, you can freeze the cut-out dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. When frozen solid, put all the cut-outs into a plastic freezer bag. Note that you may need to add a minute or so to the baking time.

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Looking for other Nutella-centric recipes? Click here.

BISCOTTI OCCHIO DI BUE

Makes 12-15 sandwich cookies.

Ingredients:
250 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour, plus extra flour for dusting
125 grams (8 tablespoons, 1 stick) unsalted butter
100 grams (1 cup) powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rolling pin
1 (2.5 inch/6cm diameter) round cookie cutter, plus another small cookie cutter to cut out the center

Nutella, jam, or pistachio cream for filling
Powdered sugar for serving

Directions:
1.) Take the butter out of the fridge and cut it into small pieces while still cold. Let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes to warm it slightly, and then put it in the bowl of a food processor,

2.) Tip in the flour and process it together with the butter until the mixture becomes sandy. Add the powdered sugar and salt and process again, until everything is well combined.

3.) Add the yolks and vanilla extract and process again until a dough starts to form. Tip the dough out into a large mixing bowl.

4.) Use your hands to knead the cookie dough slightly to bring it together. Form the dough into a ball, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Put the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

5.) When the 30 minutes are up, take the dough out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C).

6.) Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out on a clean, lightly floured work surface, until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick (about .5 centimeters). Cut out as many circles as you can. To keep things organized, set them aside on a large piece of parchment paper.

6.) Gather up the scraps of dough and form them into a ball. Roll out the dough on your floured surface, and repeat again. You should have about 24-30 circles.

7.) Next, using a small cookie cutter (or in my case, a piping tip from a pastry bag) cut out the center of half of the circles — these will be the top of the sandwich cookie. If you’d like, feel free to bake off the centers too, for mini cookies (see photo above).

8.) On a large baking sheet, place as many cut outs as possible (note that these cookies do not spread much). Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, making sure that the cookies are barely golden. Keep an eye on them — they can go from pale to quite dark quickly.

9.) Repeat with all of the cut out dough, until all the cookies are baked. Let them cool completely.

10.) When your cookies are fully cool, spread the bottom cookies (without the hole in the middle) with jam, nutella, or pistachio cream (up to you!) Dip each cut-out cookie in powdered sugar, and place on the cookie with the filling. Eat immediately and enjoy.