Cookies D'Italia Box

Amaretti cookies are the pride of Saronno, a city just north of Milan in Lombardy, and there are no amaretti more beloved than these from Chiostro di Saronno. This humble cookie made from just a few simple ingredients is a mainstay of Italian culture, as are the iconic tins they have sold for over a century.

As the story goes, amaretti were first baked in Saronno during the Middle Ages by a poor young couple who wanted to honor the visiting cardinal of Milano. They had very little in the cupboard and came up with a simple combination of sugar, egg whites, and almond-scented apricot kernels to create these sweet morsels. This box contains beautiful keepsake tins of the classic crunchy and soft versions of these little cookies and lemon and pistachio-flavored soft amaretti.

Lazzaroni, the makers of Chiostro di Saronno, have been producing amaretti using that traditional recipe since 1719, first as a small local baker and then becoming the first company in Italy to produce cookies for commercial sale in 1888. Lazzaroni is the custodian of the amaretti archive, which is kept in the cloisters of a 14th-century church in Saronno. The archive includes cookie tins dating back hundreds of years, all hand-decorated with glamorous Italian scenes, alluring women, wistful landscapes, dreamy Christmas vignettes, and more.

Lazzaroni continues to pay homage to these vintage tins, and they produce containers inspired by historical designs. They’re a perfect home for these beautiful cookies and a lovely keepsake container to store anything in thereafter.