Lazzaroni Amaretti Cookies, Tin (1 lb)

THE STORY GOES THAT THREE CENTURIES AGO THE CARDINAL OF MILAN UNEXPECTEDLY VISITED THE TOWN OF SARONNO. Two young lovers, to honor him, created a meringue cookie from a mixture of egg whites, sugar, and apricot kernels sprinkled with coarse sugar, then slowly and meticulously baked. The Lazzaroni family keeps this recipe a secret to this day at their headquarters in a former Franciscan cloister (chiostro) in the center of Saronno.

To this day, these light crunchy (croccanti) cookies contrast the bitter taste of almond and the sweetness of sugar. A pair of cookies are wrapped together in printed parchment, recalling the lovers of long ago. The cookies come beautifully packaged in a variety of nostalgic tins and boxes. Serve with a dessert wine like vin santo, espresso with tea or crumbled as a topping on creamy desserts like panna cotta or gelato.