Carquinyolis (called carquinyolis in Catalan, the same word used in Catalan-Spanish) are Catalan almond biscotti — twice-baked finger-shaped cookies, dry and crunchy, studded with whole almonds. They are dunked into a glass of sweet dessert wine or coffee, and they keep for months in a tin, which is why they were the traveler's and shepherd's sweet.
Carquinyolis belong to the Catalan biscotti family, cousins of Italian cantucci. Their dryness and long shelf life made them the ideal sweet for travel and field work — shepherds, pilgrims, and merchants carried them in their pockets. The twice-baking (biscotto, twice-cooked) is the ancient preservation method: bake a loaf, slice it, bake it again to drive off all moisture.
Snap one in half — it breaks clean, showing whole almonds in cross-section. Dunk it in sweet dessert wine or coffee; it softens just enough to bite without losing all crunch. The taste is toasted nuts, caramelized edges, a whisper of lemon and anise. Three go down before you notice.
The dough is baked first as a flat log, then sliced and baked again — the second bake dries the cookies completely so they keep for months. The whole almonds (skin on) are folded in roughly so each slice gets halves and quarters. The dough is lean (little fat), which gives the final cookie its hard, dry snap.
Variations
Some use hazelnuts or pine nuts instead of almonds; some add lemon zest or anise; some are made with savory cheese.
On the Palate
Where Carquinyolis sits in the Spanish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
8 steps · 25 min active + 50 min waiting
- 13 min
Preheat oven to 180°C; line a tray with parchment.
- 25 min
Whisk 3 eggs and 150 g sugar until pale.
Watch outWhisk the eggs and sugar until pale and thick — that lightening is the air you're beating in, and it gives the first log its rise.
- 32 min
Fold in 250 g flour, a pinch of baking powder, a splash of anise liqueur, and lemon zest.
- 42 min
Fold in 200 g whole skin-on almonds.
- 53 min
Form the dough into two flat logs about 3 cm wide.
- 625 min
Bake 25 minutes until set and pale gold.
Watch outPull the first bake when the log is set and only pale gold — it needs to slice cleanly without crumbling, so don't brown it yet.
- 713 min
Cool 10 minutes; slice on the diagonal into 1-cm fingers.
- 817 min
Lay flat on the tray; bake another 15 minutes at 150°C until dry and crisp; cool on a rack.
Watch outThe second bake is done when the slices are dry through and snap crisp — this drying is what lets them keep for months.
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