ITALIAN COOKIES
Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region
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ITALIAN COOKIES, my ninth cookbook, is a grand tour of Italy through its cookies. It is a deep dive into a seemingly frivolous subject that turns out to be not frivolous at all! The book was years in the making, and my research took me to country villages, towns, and cities in all 20 regions of Italy. What I discovered as I traveled from Piedmont to Calabria and to the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, is that much like Italian food and Italian wine, the cookies of Italy are regional in character, their recipes rooted in the land and the culture, and in local ingredients that tell a story. Butter in the north, olive oil and wine in the south; rich hazelnuts in Piedmontese Baci di Dama, and sweet, buttery Romano almonds in Sicilian amaretti.
There are cookies with histories dating back centuries, and cookies whose popularity attract travelers from all over. There are elegant, piped cookies, and fat, generous biscotti da inzuppo ~ delicious dunking cookies (and everything in between). I set out to discover their stories.
Among the recipes you’ll find in ITALIAN COOKIES:
Canestrelletti di Torriglia, a rich, flower-shaped butter cookie from Liguria
Baci di Dama al Caffè, coffee-laced lady’s kisses from Piedmont
Biscotti Ricci del Gattopardo: pretty, piped almond cookies from Sicily
Biscotti da Inzuppo, classic cookies for dunking in your morning coffee
Cantuccioni, oversize soft biscotti from Tuscany
Mostaccioli, chocolate-iced almond and grape must cookies from Abruzzo
Pastarelle di San Nicolò, wine and anise cookies from Umbria
Buccellati, spiced and iced fig and nut rolls from Sicily
Pabassinas, iced raisin cookies from Sardinia
And many, many more!
In addition to cookie recipes ITALIAN COOKIES also contains a chapter on ‘Basics and Embellishments,’ in which you’ll find recipes for basic doughs, jams and preserves that serve as cookie fillings, spice mixes, and candied citrus peel.
What struck me more than anything, as I worked on this project, is the fact that wherever I went in Italy, whether it was a tiny bakery tucked away in a village or a large, well-known producer, the most important ingredient was this: the human touch. In Italy, cookies are in large part still made by hand: hand mixed, hand shaped. It was meeting the people--the bakers and the artisans—who continue to produce these beloved cookies—that made this project so meaningful to me and worthy of a deep exploration.
Published by Gibbs Smith, with photos by Lauren Volo and art by Daniela Bracco.
A photo from behind the scenes of photographing Italian Cookies with Lauren Volo
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PRAISE AND REVIEWS
“An excellent volume describing specialties from each Italian region and how to create bakery-worthy cookies at home. Marchetti's easy-to-follow recipes will appeal to bakers of all levels.”
– Library Journal
★ “This book is a must for dedicated bakers, encouraging a focus on Mediterranean sweets and spices, with an emphasis on natural flavors inspired by the regional foods throughout ‘the Boot.’”—Booklist, Starred Review
“Endlessly fasccinating, this deep dive into Italian cookies is a worthwhile addition to any cookbook shelf…Elegantly photographed throughout, recipes are very well explained with clear instructions…It might be a little trite to say this one is inspiring, but it would be fair to aruge that ‘Italian Cookies’ may be as good a resource as any to plan an Italian vacation—centered around cookies of course.”—Culinaire Magazine
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Published by Gibbs Smith; coming April 2026
Photographs by Lauren Volo
Illustrations by Daniela Bracco
UPCOMING EVENTS
Check back often for updates!
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
April 16, 7 p.m. EDT
Book Launch Cookie Party and signing at Old Town Books, Alexandria
SAN FRANCISCO/BERKELEY/OAKLAND CA
April 19, 3 p.m. PDT
Book Talk and Cookie Tasting with Kate Leahy at Omnivore Books in San Francisco
April 22, 6 p.m. PDT
In conversation with Tori Ritchie at the Museo Italo Americano, San Francisco
April 23, 6 p.m. PDT
La Dolce Vita Cookies & Wine with Megan Glaab, lead winemaker, Tansy Wines, at Book Society Social, Berkeley
April 24, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. PDT
Cookies & Coffee at The Caffè by Mr. Espresso, Oakland
April 25, 1 - 3 p.m. PDT
’You Had Me at Almonds Pop-Up Bakesale at Kantine, San Francisco
A Cookbook Week Event!
PORTLAND, OR
April 27, 6 - 8 p.m. PDT
In Conversation with Diane Morgan at Vivienne Culinary Books
April 28
Cookie Class Happy Hour at Nostrana, PDX!
PHILADELPHIA
May 3, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. EDT
LIDO & ITALIAN COOKIES: An Italian Cookbook Panel at Binding Agents: A Cook/Book Shop
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