Breakfast at Il Rigo - anise "Ricci" and spelt&chocolate chip cookies to think of us

We will remember this March 2020.
We will definitely remember the harshness of these days of lock-down, the fear and anxiety for the future and for the health of our dear ones.
I hope we will remember also how many messages of love and compassion we received, the support we found where it was mostly unexpected and the strength we took out from that remote pocket, we did not know was there!

I’ve been reading loads of beautiful messages from all our guests thinking of the peaceful beauty of Il Rigo, a special place that I know lives in the heart of many people all around the globe. So I decided to share some beloved recipes, that you can prepare at home, thinking of us, dreaming of coming back to Tuscany!

I begin with our breakfast buffet, sharing the recipes of our “Ricci”, these cookies covered with corn flakes, that you always ask me about :), and of the mouth-watering chocolate-chips cookies prepared with our heirloom spelt flour (but you can use an other one!).

Anise Ricci - corn flakes cookies

Ingredients: (makes circa 35 cookies

5 eggs
sunflower seeds oil 340 gr
sugar 340 gr
organic whole grain flour 580gr
baking powder 16 gr
raisins 150 gr
pine nuts (but I often replace them with sunflower, sesame or flax seeds) 150gr
dried anise seeds 20gr
corn flakes to cover

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C.

Put all the ingredients except the corn flakes in a bowl and mix with a spoon or electric whips until incorporated.
Helping yourself with two spoon (I use an ice cream scoop), make a ball of the size of a nut of dough, and drop it in a bowl with the corn flakes. The mixture should result quiet sticky, and you can drop the spoons or the scoop in a glass of water, between picking the amount of a cookie and the other.
Wrap the dough with corn flakes and place it on a pan, covered with baking paper.

Bake them for 15 minutes, until golden, but not too dark. Let them cool down before storing them in a sealed jar. The last very long, so my advice is to prepare a generous batch, ready every breakfast for many days, or for an afternoon tea!

Spelt&chocolate chip cookies

That is my sister Martina’s recipe. She stared baking these cookies a year ago and since then we could not have a breakfast without them, they’re simply delicious!

Ingredients:
Monococco spelt flour (but you can use wheat or barley flour) 500gr
sugar 150gr
butter at room temperature 250gr
2 eggs
baking soda 2 tea spoons
dark chocolate chips 200gr
a pinch of salt

Before starting let your butter at room temperature to soften.
Preheat the over at 180°C.

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them using you hands until all are incorporated and you have a smooth, elastic dough.
Make small balls of the size of a nut and place them on a pan, covered with baking paper. Press gently the ball on the paper to flatten it.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden. Let them cool down before storing them in a sealed jar. They last very long, but a bit less than the Ricci, as the butter after some weeks start to taste a bit rancid, but don’t worry, they usually don’t last so long!

Optional: try to replace 100gr of chocolate with toasted hazelnuts, or add at the end 5gr of dried mint (a mint tea bag will do).

We hope these recipes with light up your mood, and will bring some memories of your breakfasts in Tuscany to your homes!

A big hug from the hills and BUON APPETITO