The most familiar Italian sweets eaten during the Christmas season are panettone and pandoro, with the ongoing discussion about who prefers which one and whether or not panettone should have candied fruit peel in it or just raisins. Other confections that are eaten at this time of year are struffoli, zeppole, panforte, pan giallo and pan pepato.  I was interested in discovering biscotti that are typical of the season.  My family always bought ricciarelli for Christmas. They’re from Siena, originating in the fifteenth century, and are a diamond-shaped, dense, delicious type of almond macaroon.  Other biscotti recipes that I found are often based on ingredients that are usual for the festive season:  nuts, dried fruit, honey and spices. There are mostaccioli which, in the Neapolitan version, are made with chocolate, honey, almonds and a spice mixture called pisto. Also from the Campania region are roccoco’ cookies which are crispy, spicy (that pisto again) and doughnut-shaped.  Susumelle, from Calabria, are glazed cookies made with nuts, dried fruits and honey and lightly spiced with cinnamon or cloves. The Christmas dessert table often includes a croccante, a caramelized nut brittle, and wouldn’t be complete without torroni, hard and soft nougats.