Listing the cookies on the market in Italy is a though job. I thought I knew them all, either from the childhood memories, to nostalgic memories while living in the US, but when I tried to list them all I got lost.

Definitely the main brand name is ”Mulino Bianco, ” (in France also called Moulin Blanc in the past) is a firm of bakery products, snacks and biscuits owned by Barilla. Founded in 1974 under the coordination of Giovanni Maestri, the Mulino Bianco brand was created to distinguish Barilla’s bakery production, historically linked to pasta.

There are 21 different types of cookies, similar but with distinctive ingredients and/or shape. You can find a few at Eataly (New York, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas) .

But then there are plenty more in Italy. One of my childhood favorites was the ”Bucaneve” (Snowdrops), then the “Gran Turchese“, and the very light ”Pavesini” by the Pavesi S.p.A. an Italian company specialized in the production of crackers, breakfast biscuits and snacks, founded in Novara in 1937 by Mario Pavesi based in Novara. It is also part of the Barilla group. These are also suitable for “Tiramisu,” and other sophisticated cakes such as ”Charlottes” with fresh fruit and cream.

And then there are the most classic of all the ”Oro Saiwa,” these are in everybody’s fond memories. And they are perfect for making the American Cheesecake.

It should be mention the more sophisticated ones, such as the familiar ”Savoiardi, ” used to make the “tiramisu“. Or the Loacker, located right in the border between Austria and Italy. A most beautiful location in the Dolomites. no wonder the cookies are good.

Add to that all the small artisanal productions of cookies that claim good bio ingredients, freshness, whole wheat, no palm oil, etc. We just have more biscuits that we can consume.

The way we consume cookies is in the morning with our ”caffelatte”, just similar to the Starbucks Latte (please do not call it ”lattes”, it is an uncountable noun, it cannot take a plural), just a lot smaller.

I was in the USA with a friend for a period of time, and the thing my friend missed the most were the morning cookies which are very difficult to find. Yes of course you can find them at Eataly, but when an Italian sees those prices it’s practically impossible to dig out that money.