“Italian Cookies” Cookbook Review + Domenica Marchetti Interview

I’m practically swooning over this “Italian Cookies” cookbook review and interview with Domenica Marchetti. This cookies cookbook is just what my cookbook collection needed — and yours, too, if you love Italian cookies like I love Italian cookies. From front cover to back cover and everything in-between, “Italian Cookies” is appealing in every possible way.

I’ve baked plenty of cookies over the decades, and we’ve visited parts of Italy on Little Indiana Bakes before. I previously covered:

• What Is Biscotti? The History of an Italian Cookie
• Biscotti Cookbooks
• Bread Machine Italian Bread Recipe
• Pellegrino Artusi and Southern Italy

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“Italian Cookies: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories From Every Region” by Domenica Marchetti (Gibbs Smith, 2026) offers 100 authentic Italian cookie recipes. From the crave-worthy recipes to the charming photography to the interesting story behind each cookie, this is my kind of cookbook.

I made Marchetti’s Piped Italian Butter Cookies recipe, you know, the cookies typically dipped in chocolate, topped with jimmies or sprinkles, and in just about every Italian-American bakery case? Yes, those cookies. They were so fun to throw together, I can’t wait to make them again.

Let’s chat with Domenica Marchetti and learn about her favorite Italian cookies, what cookbooks she is currently enjoying, and her top tip for how to bake cookies. After that, we’ll jump into the “Italian Cookies” cookbook review, courtesy of the publisher.

Interview with “Italian Cookies” Cookbook Author Domenica Marchetti

The cookie, it turns out, is everything the town is not — no gilt or flourishes — just a plain brown biscuit shaped like a crescent moon. It is described in the bakery’s literature as quotidiano (plain), but also ammaliante (bewitching), and it is. Its rich flavor comes from butter and vanilla and a deep browning in the oven, and it has a super crunchy texture that stands up to a good dunking, whether in cappuccino, milk, or wine.

Bigio’s granddaughter Roberta Milesi, who now runs the cafe-bakery with her siblings, told me that her grandfather — who was also a traveling puppeteer — created the cookies to hand out to the families and children who attended his shows. If you stop in at Bigio, you’ll see his puppets displayed on the bakery walls.

Domenica Marchetti, “Cookies of The North: Biscotti Di San Pellegrino Terme (Crescent Moon Cookies from San PellEgrino Terme), “Italian Cookies” (2026), Page 45.

Experienced cookbook author Marchetti obviously understands what makes a cookbook a good cookbook. Although this Italian cookie book offers plenty of eye candy (images or an illustration appear with nearly every Italian cookie recipe), the organization, recipe commentary, and helpful tips make it especially useful.

You were a former newspaper reporter and now the author of multiple cookbooks. How did you get into writing about food?

I began my career as a newspaper reporter, covering everything from suburban school boards to the world of philanthropy. I turned to freelance when my two kids (now grown) were babies, so that I could work from home.

It seemed like a great opportunity to pivot to writing about Italian food, a subject in which I was knowledgeable, and that readers seemed to be interested in learning more about.

I’ve always loved to cook, and so this was a way to combine two favorite pursuits: cooking and writing. This path eventually led to cookbook writing. I use my journalism skills all the time when I research my books; this was especially true for Italian Cookies, as I searched for cookie stories and spoke with bakers of all kinds throughout Italy.

I saw that you also collect cookbooks. What makes a cookbook a “keeper?” Is there a certain type that draws you? Do you have a favorite?

I am drawn to books that tell stories or that have a voice, and books that evoke a sense of place, whether it’s a particular country or region or a single, special restaurant. The range is pretty wide, from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone to Pat LaFrieda’s “Meat.”

The biggest category in my collection is (not surprisingly) Italian cookbooks. I have old ones and new ones, and I keep buying them because I keep learning from them. I am less interested in dietary fad cookbooks, like paleo or keto or “clean” (whatever that means).

You’re Team Marian Cunningham (what a remarkable lady she was). Her conversational style is much like your own. What were some of your favorite Cunningham recipes? 

I have very fond memories of making the French Toast and Griddlecakes from “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook” when my kids were little.

I also remember the first time I came across the recipe for Winter Vegetable Cobbler in The Supper Book. I thought it was so clever. It calls for root vegetables, but there are endless variations you can make, switching up the vegetables and the herbs. You can even add cooked chicken or salmon to make it more like a pot pie.

What cookbooks are on your current radar? Is there a certain cuisine or type of cooking you want to play with? 

I always want to “play” with Italian cuisine because there seems to be no end to the astonishing variety to be found in the food of Italy’s 20 regions.

• I’m currently enjoying Katie Parla’s latest book “Rome” and Giulia Scarpaleggia’s “Vegetables the Italian Way.”
• One of my favorite restaurant cookbooks of the last several years is the “Via Carota” cookbook — simple food, beautifully prepared.
• And one of my all-time favorites is “Bitter,” by Jennifer McClagan. (We Italians love our bitter flavors.)

Do you have a favorite flavor? Are you team chocolate or team vanilla?

I mentioned bitter:

• radicchio
• citrus
• bittersweet chocolate

I am an anise lover. I know it’s a controversial flavor for some, but I find it so appealing in baked goods. It’s so toasty. I also love putting citrus zest in cookies, or very finely chopped candied citrus peel (homemade).

On the chocolate-vanilla question, I would have to say team gianduja (chocolate and hazelnut, the best combination in the world).

What’s your favorite cookie of all time?

Favorite cookie depends on the day. I love Canestrelletti di Torriglia, the flower-shaped butter cookie from Liguria that inspired Italian Cookies. It has just four ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, and egg yolks (I add a pinch of salt), but the purity of those flavors is so appealing, as is its tender, crumbly, delicate texture.

I also love the Baci di Dama in the book. The dough is made with ground hazelnuts, and I also put a tiny bit of very finely ground espresso. Once baked, the tiny cookie buttons are sandwiched together with bittersweet chocolate. Heaven.

Where do you think cookbooks fit in with digital recipes and social media sites with their looping quick-share recipes? 

I admit I don’t make a lot of recipes from digital sources, even though I develop recipes for digital media! I love to open a physical cookbook and just be transported by it, to flip through its pages in search of something that strikes me. The publishing industry has seen a marked growth in cookbook sales in recent years.

It seems like people are yearning for more than just a recipe pulled out of the ether. They want the context, the sense of place that they get from a cookbook, the feeling of permanence, the feeling that someone poured their heart and soul into this physical thing. And the luxury of lingering on the photos.

Of course, digital and social media sites are filled with talented creators who inspire people to cook and bake who might not otherwise be inclined. That’s hugely important. But for me, personally, I am much more drawn to analog.

“Italian Cookies” is well-organized and well done. I love the mix of story and recipe. For all those super busy people out there that want to get baking, but are overwhelmed by the choices in your book, what are a few of your favorite “make this cookie right now” recipes from your book?

Thank you! The Biscotti da Inzuppo (p. 142) are a great place to start. The dough comes together easily in a bowl, no mixer or food processor required. The shaping is easy, too: no rolling out; just pinching off big pieces and shaping them into “fingers” that are coated in sugar and then baked. They are generous in size and perfect for dunking in milk or coffee.

Sbrisolona (p. 83) is another easy one. It’s a giant, crumbly cornmeal cookie that is baked in a pan and then broken into pieces, meant to be shared. Super easy.

What surprised you while you were first researching and baking for this cookbook? Did you have that “this should be a cookbook” gut check right away, or did it hit you later?

I was surprised at the sheer variety of cookies to be found throughout Italy — and this is a country I’ve been spending a lot of time in ever since I was little. And almost every cookie seemed to have a story or lore attached to it. The more I dug into the subject, the more I wanted to know.

You’ve written nine cookbooks so far … other than “Italian Cookies,” which one book you’ve written would you suggest to Little Indiana Bakes readers and why? 

I would recommend a book of mine that came out a few years ago called “Williams-Sonoma Everyday Italian.” It’s super accessible and filled with easy recipes that I make for my family. I still cook from it all the time.

Some of my favorite recipes from “Everyday Italian” are

• Spaghetti with Zucchini and Saffron Cream
• Aeolian Bread Salad
• Sliced Steak with Cherry Tomato Confit
• Pineapple-Coconut Sorbetto

Do you have any unique or interesting baking tips? What do you find most exciting about baking and Italian baking? 

I don’t know about unique, but please use weight measurements when baking. It’s much more accurate than volume measurements, though I give both in the book.

Most exciting: I have so enjoyed exploring Italy through its baking traditions, especially cookies. They are so different from our beloved chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies here in the U.S. (which I also love!). Delving into these recipes will give you a whole new perspective on cookie flavors and textures.

“Italian Cookies” Cookbook Review

In short, “Italian Cookies” is a grand tour of Italy seen through its bite-sized treats. The book was years in the making, and it took me to towns, cities, and the countryside in all 20 regions of Italy.

What I found is that much like Italian food and 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 in the south; hazelnuts in Piemontese Baci di Dama, and sweet almonds in Sicilian amaretti.

Domenica Marchetti, Domenica Marchetti on Her New Cookbook: Italian Cookies: Appetito, March 18, 2026, Accessed August 8, 2026.

“Italian Cookies: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region” Fast Facts

• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Publishing Date: April 14, 2026
• Pages: 240
• Size: 8″ x 1″ x 10″
• Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Photographs: Lauren Volo
• Illustrations: Daniela Bracco
• Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Full-color images accompany almost every cookie recipe, with occasional illustrations subbed in

Marchetti’s “Italian Cookies” is a highly organized cookbook that divides the recipes by region. Yes, some cookies exist in multiple regions, but may be more common in a place than others. Pignoli cookies, for example, are in the “Cookies of the North” section because pine nuts are a big part of the region. Italy’s regions are categorized as follows via chapters:

• North
• Central
• South
• Islands

North, Central, or South, get your bearings with the map of Italy in the front. The beginning pages of this Italian cookbook, describing ingredients and methods, proved useful. If you also tend to skip the Introduction, don’t! Her thoughts on lard and the three main types of Italian cookie dough are fascinating.

“Italian Cookies” Chapters include:

• Introductions
• Essentials of Italian Cookie Baking
• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Essential Techniques
• Cookies of the North
  • Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle D’Aosta, Veneto
  • Cookie Story: How a Butter Cookie Revived a Ligurian Town
• Cookies of Central Italy
  • Lazio, Le Marche, Tuscany, Umbria
  • Cookie Story: The Cookie Lady of Trastevere
• Cookies of the South
  • Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia
  • Cookie Story: The Biker Baker of Scanna
• Cookies of the Islands
  • Sardinia and Sicily
  • Cookie Story: Almond Joy
• Basics and Embellishments
  • Foundations, Fillings, and Flourishes
• Acknowledgements
• Sources
• Cookie Bakeries in Italy
• Italian Bakeries in the U.S.
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author and Contributors

“Italian Cookies” offers 100 authentic recipes from every region of Italy. Enjoy baking tips and techniques (don’t skip the Introduction), a slew of regional stories, and page after page of delightful images and illustrations. Flip to the back for a list of Italian bakeries that focus on cookies and Italian Bakeries in the U.S. 

Although she accidentally left out La Dolce Vita Italian Bakery in Wescosville, PA (outside Allentown), and my favorite place to get a hazelnut cappuccino and sfogliatelle (a flaky, crunchy pastry), I love how Marchetti urges visitors to visit local bakeries over the big brands.

What Cookie Recipes Will You Find in “Italian Cookies?”

What is Italy’s most famous cookie, and will you find it in Marchetti’s book? I don’t think there’s just one Italian cookies recipe that’s famous. Consider biscotti, pignoli cookies, anginetti, amaretti cookies, pizzelle — you’ll find recipes for so many Italian cookies names you’ve never heard of. Not bad for a country that’s roughly the size of New Mexico, according to Wandering Italy.

Each of Italy’s regions follows with a list of the cookies and their page number. If you want a homemade almond cookie from Siena, you’ll find it listed under “Cookies of Central Italy.” If you want Italian lemon cookies with glaze or Italian almond paste cookies, flip to the index. Easy. If you want the best Italian cookies for Christmas, well, this cookbook as a whole is a good start.

Now that I have the Italian sprinkle cookies recipe behind me, my “must bake” list is rapidly expanding. Italians love their almond extract (and so do I). I’m seeing a common theme in my choices below.

Which cookies will I try next?

• Orange and Anise Cookie Knots, or Anginetti, sometimes called Italian wedding cookies (Campania)
• Flower-Shaped Butter Cookies from Torriglia, or Canestrelleti di Torriglia (Liguria)
• Little Imperial Cookies from Omegna, or Imperialine di Omegna (which are supposed to taste similar to Pepperidge Farm’s Milano Cookies).
• Pasticcini di Mandorla (also Sicilian), or Little Almond Cookies
• Biscotti Ricci del Gattopardo, or the Leopard’s Rippled Almond Cookies (Sicily), since Marchetti’s new technique for shaping these attractive cookies will help speed up the process

Once I get my hands on a good pizzelle maker, I plan to whip up pizzelles (or Ferratelle) like nobody’s business. They are a cookie I have long associated with my Italian grandma and one of her sisters. I’d love to make them at home with Marchetti’s recipe.

Bake a large variety of Italian cookies with ease, thanks to Marchetti’s wonderful selection of Italian cookie recipes, clear instructions, and the colorful images or illustrations to show you what you’re making. It is rare for a recipe to lack an image or illustration. Easy Italian cookie recipes abound. Grab your good sheet pan and get your oven ready. I can’t recommend this cookbook enough.

What People Say About the “Italian Cookies” Cookbook

I grew up in an Italian family. At the dinner table we spent more time debating what we should eat tomorrow night than politics or the news of the day. My mother is a native of Chieti, a picturesque hilltop city in Abruzzo, not far from the Adriatic coast. She had my sister and me shaping gnocchi and ravioli by the time we could see over the kitchen counter.

We spent our summers in Italy with my mother’s three sisters (all great cooks); each year my father planned trips around the peninsula guided by where the best local food and wine were to be found. I’ve continued the tradition of food-focused trips now that I have my own family.

Domenica Marchetti, Amazon Author Profile, Accessed August 8, 2026.

“Italian Cookies: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region” is a beautiful, comprehensive guided tour of Italy’s regions by cookies and cookie stories. With recipes steeped in history and tradition, the book capitalizes on two major continuing food trends: our love of everything cookies and our love of everything Italian,” wrote the publisher, Gibbs Smith.

• Dorie Greenspan enjoyed the “Sbrisolona, a cornmeal and almond cookie that’s like a crumb cake without the cake,” on her Instagram account.

• “I had a hard time deciding what to bake, but being that I’m a pistachio lover, I went with her Frollini Al Pistacchio, which is a pistachio butter cookie,” shared ProudItalianCook on her Instagram account.
  
• The Caffe Oak in Oakland, CA, hosted a book signing, and baked up Pasticcini di Mandorla (almond cookies from Sicily) and Quaresimali (Neapolitan Lenten biscotti) just for Marchetti’s event. “Fun fact: The little star-shaped pasticcini, which are decorated with almonds and candied cherries, are a Di Ruocco family favorite! The biscotti are made with almonds, candied orange, and a blend of spices known as pisto Napoletano, which is specific to Naples – the perfect complement to Mr. Espresso’s signature Neapolitan espresso,” they posted on Instagram.
  
• . . . Bakers will learn more about regional ingredients and their influence — like cornmeal from the Po valley, which makes for a lightly crunchy bite when mixed with wheat flour in paste di meliga and krumiri and adds a deep golden hue to the Veneto’s raisin-studded zaletti. Bakers will be inspired to make the nutty meringues called brutti ma buoni (“ugly but good cookies”) and the biscotti of the country’s central and southern regions.
  
  Anginetti (orange and anise cookie knots with a citrus glaze) exemplify southern Italian, citrus-infused creativity, and a smattering of wine-infused biscotti shows off a talent for incorporating easy-to-find ingredients in a lightly sweet, post-meal treat. 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,” wrote Jessica S. Levy, Booklist, Starred Review.
  
• “The Occhi di Bue are a stunner. Baking powder lightens the texture of these buttery cookies, giving them a melt-in-your-mouth quality – and they’re the perfect excuse to use up those lingering jars of jam in your fridge door. I happened to have wild blueberry, strawberry, and apricot, so I made a third of each. Dusted with powdered sugar, these little packages were a tasty treat,” shared StoreBoughtIsFine on Instagram.
  
• “Don’t let the rugged exterior fool you! The Strazzate Materane are my first bake from @domenicacooks gorgeous new Italian Cookies book, and I am officially obsessed. They are everything a Southern Italian cookie should be: crunchy, bold, and packed with toasted almonds, dark chocolate, and bright orange zest,” shared the FoodHunter Instagram account. 

I say this is a cookbook you should use for far more than determining which Italian Christmas cookies you’ll bake this year. These recipes would make every day feel special.

“Italian Cookies” Cookbook Takeaways

This “Italian Cookies” cookbook is best for:

• People who want to expand their cookie baking repertoire beyond their usual Italian Christmas cookies
• People who love a mix of story with recipe
• People who want to explore their Italian heritage or take a tour of Italy through baking

Marchetti’s new cookbook of authentic Italian cookie recipes is perfect for anyone who wants to up their cookie game. There is a satisfying mix of sweet essentials and unique extras to elevate any home cook, such as Amarena sour cherries (Confettura di Amarena) and buttery pastry (her Basic Italian Shortcrust Pastry recipe, or Pasta Frolla).

Add in Grape Must Syrup and spice blends, and you’ll find one authentic recipe after another. It’s so fun.

Stock your pantry with the items listed in the Introduction to streamline your Italian cookie-baking process.

• Pastry flour
• Almond extract
• Dried fruits, such as golden raisins, figs, and apricots
• Good olive oil
• Nuts of all kinds

If you’re wondering if this cookbook would make a good gift, consider this. The Italian cookies (sweet biscuits) market size was valued at EUR 2.61 billion in 2023, according to 2024 data from GlobalData. Consider the number of Italian cookies people make in their homes and aren’t buying from brands. It’s jaw-dropping, isn’t it?

So, yes, “Italian Cookies” would make the perfect gift for dedicated bakers or the relative beginner (I’ve got a few ideas on what to write in your cookbook gift, too).

Italian Cookies Glossary

A super brief breakdown to aid you with this article.

• Amarena Sour Cherries: A small, dark, and tart cherry variety
• Amaretti: A traditional almond cookie
• Anginetti: Also known as Italian wedding cookies
• Anise: A bitter spice common in anise cookies
• Biscotti: Twice-baked Italian cookies
• Gianduja: Chocolate and hazelnut combination
• Pasta Frolla: Shortcut pastry
• Pignoli: Pine nut cookies

Cookbooks by Domenica Marchetti

Anyone who has stepped into an Italian bakery, in Italy or elsewhere, knows the temptations that awaits — buttery piped S cookies and wreaths decorated with sprinkles and candied cherries, chewy pine nut-stuffed cookies; fried pastry ribbons showered with powdered sugar; ice lemon rings and fig rolls; delicate ladyfingers, and airy, peak-tipped meringues.

I knew there were many more sweet stories out there, so I set out to find them. The result is this book.

Domenica Marchetti, “Italian Cookies” (2026), Page 11.

When you’ve had your fill of anise cookies and Italian wedding cookies, and want to branch out beyond sensational cookie recipes and into delicious Italian foods other than pasta, Domenica Marchetti has written a range of high-quality Italian cookbooks.

From finding your new favorite homemade Italian biscotti recipe to company-friendly dinners and dessert, you’ll enjoy a nice change of pace with a familiar cuisine by an incredibly competent author. Buon appetito.