Mix the first four listed dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the bowl, then add the eggs and scramble them with a fork, along with the zest and extract. Start incorporating the flour little by little until you've formed a pliable but firm dough. Add the almonds and mix them into the dough.

Divide the dough into two halves. Form each half into a long, thin 'log'. Lay the logs out, well apart from each other, on a cookie sheet, well greased and dusted with flour or lined with nonstick parchment paper.

Bake in a 180C/350F oven for 25 minutes or so, until the logs are lightly browned on the outside. They will have risen considerably. Remove from the oven and let the logs cool for 10-15 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and cut them on the diagonal into thick slices. Place these slices back onto the baking sheet cut sides up. (For this step, you may want to place a rack on the cookie sheet so the cantucci can cook evenly top and bottom.) Return to a low (125C/275F) oven for another 10-15 minutes or so, until the insides of the cantucci are well dried out.

Let them cool completely before eating. These cookies will keep for quite a long time.