RECIPE: Don’t let looks fool you. These Italian cookies are ugly, but good.

My approach to cookies is straightforward: I believe in simple, flavorful, never-too-sweet cookies that find their highest potential and best use when dunked in a cup of strong morning coffee (or tea, if that’s your thing).

Given this cookie ethos, it is difficult to do better than the humble brutti ma buoni (ugly but good) biscotti. It is a simple celebration of lightly sweetened almonds and hazelnuts, and it’s an excellent exercise in how deceiving looks can be in the baking world.

Is there a place for perfectly executed fruit tarts, cakes, and cookies that shine like modern art? Of course. But I would wager that a simple, well-made brutti ma buoni cookie is preferable any day and has the added benefit of not requiring an advanced degree in pastry arts.