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Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada are hard almond cookies from Lanzada, a small village in Valtellina, in the Sondrio province of Lombardy. The dialect name means roughly bones to bite, and that’s exactly what they are, dense little logs shaped like bones and baked until properly hard.
They belong to the same family as Milan’s Pan dei Morti spiced cookies and Piedmont’s ossa dei morti, made across northern Italy for All Souls’ Day on November 2. The Lanzada version leans on toasted almonds and a light egg-white dough, no butter, no leavening, just sugar, flour and a double bake.
That second bake, with the oven off and the door cracked, is the part most people skip. Skip it and you get a soft almond cookie. Do it properly and you get the bone-hard bite that makes these worth dunking.
I make a batch every October and keep them in a tin through the holiday. They only get harder with time, which for this cookie is the point, not a flaw.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Naturally dairy-free, just almonds, egg whites and sugar
- Keeps for weeks, gets better as it hardens
- Only 8 ingredients, no butter or leavening needed
- Traditional Alpine cookie made for All Souls’ Day
Ingredient Notes
- Almonds: Whole blanched almonds work best, toast them yourself for control over flavor. Raw almonds with skins on give a rustic, darker cookie.
- All-purpose flour: Just enough to bind the meringue and nuts together. Overmixing once it’s added makes the finished cookie tougher than it should be.
- Egg whites: Use room-temperature whites, they whip up with more volume. Save the yolks for pasta dough or a custard.
- Granulated sugar: Standard white sugar gives the pale, crackled crust typical of this cookie. Brown sugar will darken them and soften the crunch.
- Lemon zest: Adds brightness against the toasted almonds. Orange zest is a fine swap if that’s what you have.
- Ground cinnamon: A light background spice, traditional in Alpine baking. A pinch of ground cloves alongside it is common in some Lanzada households.
- Fine salt: Just enough to balance the sugar, don’t skip it even though the amount is small.
- Powdered sugar: Purely for dusting before serving, optional and best added right before the cookies go on the table so it doesn’t dissolve into the crust.
Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada: Valtellina’s Hard Almond Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 160 C / 320 F. Spread the almonds on a sheet pan 33 x 46 cm / 13 x 18 inch and toast for 8 to 10 minutes, until fragrant and lightly colored. Cool completely, then chop roughly, keeping some pieces whole for texture.
- Lower the oven to 150 C / 300 F and line the same sheet pan with fresh parchment.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with a hand mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar gradually and keep whisking until you get a loose, glossy meringue that holds soft peaks, 3 to 4 minutes. Don't push past soft peaks or the dough turns airy instead of dense.
- Fold in the flour, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt with a spatula until just combined.
- Fold in the chopped toasted almonds. The dough will be thick, sticky and heavy with nuts.
- Wet your hands lightly and shape tablespoons of dough into short logs about 8 cm / 3 inches long. Pinch and flatten each end slightly so it looks like a knobby bone. Place on the sheet pan, spacing them 5 cm / 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until pale gold and firm to the touch, with a few natural cracks across the surface.
- Turn off the oven and leave the cookies inside with the door propped open for 15 to 20 minutes. This second drying step is what gives Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada their bone-hard bite, skip it and they stay chewy.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely, they'll firm up further as they cool.
- Dust with powdered sugar just before serving, if using.
Notes
- Don't skip the second oven-off drying step, it's what makes these bone-hard.
- Whip egg whites only to soft peaks, stiff peaks make the dough puff.
- Shape with wet hands, the dough is sticky from egg white and sugar.
- Cookies harden further as they cool, don't judge doneness straight from the oven.
Tips for Success
- Toast the almonds before chopping them, much like Neapolitan Susamielli’s toasted almonds, it deepens the flavor and keeps the dough from turning gummy once baked.
- Stop whisking the egg whites at soft peaks, not stiff, or the dough turns airy and the cookies puff instead of staying dense.
- Leave the cookies in the switched-off oven for the full 15 to 20 minutes, that second drying is what makes them bone-hard.
- Wet your hands before shaping the dough, it’s sticky from the egg white and sugar and this stops it sticking to your palms.
- Store cooled cookies in a metal tin, not a plastic bag, since trapped moisture softens the crackled crust within a day.
Variations
- Swap half the almonds for toasted hazelnuts, common in some Valtellina kitchens, for a rounder, less sharp almond flavor.
- Add 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dough for a dark version some bakers make around Sondrio.
- Dip one end of each cooled cookie in melted dark chocolate for a softer bite alongside the traditional hard crunch.
Storage and Reheating
Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada keep for 3 to 4 weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature. They don’t soften with age, if anything they get harder, which is normal for this cookie.
Skip plastic bags, trapped moisture softens the crust within a day. There’s no reheating step here since the cookies are meant to be eaten hard or dunked straight from the tin.
To make ahead, shape the raw dough into bones and freeze on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 4 to 5 minutes to the bake time.
Serving Suggestions
Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada are built for dunking. A glass of vin santo or a sweet Valtellina red like Sforzato softens the bite and pulls out the almond flavor.
Coffee works just as well for an everyday version, especially a strong moka coffee after lunch. Set a few cookies out alongside other All Souls’ Day sweets like Fave dei Morti soft almond cookies if you’re building a holiday dessert table.
They also travel well wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon, which makes them an easy homemade gift during the first weeks of November.
FAQ
Why are my Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada soft instead of hard?
They’re missing the second drying step. After the initial 25 to 30 minute bake, the cookies need 15 to 20 minutes inside the switched-off oven with the door propped open. Skipping that step, or pulling them out too soon, is the main reason home bakers end up with a chewy almond cookie instead of the traditional hard bite.
Can I use hazelnuts instead of almonds in this recipe?
Yes, some Valtellina bakers swap in toasted hazelnuts, and it works well. Toast and skin them the same way as the almonds, then chop roughly before folding into the meringue base. The cookies come out slightly rounder in flavor, less sharp than the almond version, but just as hard once double-baked.
How long do Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada last in storage?
They keep 3 to 4 weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature, and they get harder rather than softer over time. Avoid plastic bags, which trap moisture and soften the crust within a day. For longer storage, freeze the raw shaped dough for up to 2 months and bake from frozen.
What should you drink with Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada?
Vin santo or a sweet Valtellina wine like Sforzato is the classic match, since dunking softens the hard bite and pulls out the almond flavor. A strong moka coffee works for an everyday version. Either way, these cookies are meant to be dunked, not eaten dry straight from the tin.
Are Oss de Mòrd di Lanzada gluten free?
Not as written, since the dough uses 100 g of all-purpose flour to bind the almonds and egg whites. A 1:1 gluten-free flour blend works fine as a swap, since the almonds do most of the structural work anyway. Check your blend doesn’t contain extra xanthan gum, which can make the dough gummy.
How is this different from Piedmont’s ossa dei morti?
The base idea is the same, an almond and egg-white cookie baked hard for All Souls’ Day, but the Lanzada version from Valtellina skips food coloring and uses a higher ratio of almonds to egg white. That makes them paler and denser than the pink-tinted Piedmontese version found further west.