Or rather, they are biscotti, because in Italy all cookies - biscuits for non-Americans - are called biscotti (and mind you, it is the plural for biscotto, so if you are eating one, do not call it a biscotti because Italians cringe at the mere sound - the same applies to panini, but that is material for a new post), but more specifically they are commonly known as cantuccini although their original name was biscotti di Prato, the city in Tuscany where Mattei invented them in the 19th century.
If you want to be even more accurate, as Italians tend to be about their culinary traditions, real cantuccini are never chocolate flavored and are not made with hazelnuts. Sure, variations exist now to satisfy tourists market demand but the true cantuccino is made with almonds and is usually enjoyed at the end of a meal accompanied with vin santo, a Tuscan fortified wine to dunk the dry cookies in.
So, come to think of it, if you call them biscotti you actually have a point. The word biscotto (bis-cotto) literally means baked twice in Italian, so calling cantuccini biscotti is really more accurate than calling a bacio di dama or any other typical Italian breakfast cookie a biscotto, as it is baked twice and most of the others are not.
This is a good recipe to keep because biscotti are great to have in the house for a variety of reasons: they are quick to make, you can use pretty much any ingredient on hand in your pantry (any kind of nut, chopped chocolate or dried fruit, seeds etc.), the dough contains no fat (no butter or oil) and very little sugar (but you can play around with quantities, these were definitely not sweet). They are great for breakfast (dipped in coffee, warm milk or cappucino), for tea or after dinner for impromptu guests with a glass of sweet wine. Best of all, they last a long time (although probably not for centuries as Pliny the Elder insisted), so you can always keep some stashed away for just those occasions.
