Coffee. What a beautiful word. It incites such eager anticipation, excitement, thirst, and general burst of energy even before drinking said caffeinated beverage. It's loved the world over, with different ways and preferences for roasting, preparing, and consuming, but in the end it's something we share together, with our family, friends, and our early mornings and foggy brains.

My mom's coffee bar. A nice mix of the Italian Moka pot on the left, an American drip coffee machine, Chemex, and a French Nespresso machine.

In Italy coffee is a way of life. More or less espresso, because if you order a caffé or caffé normale, you will get a shot of espresso. Drip coffee, or so to speak "normal" coffee for Americans is rare to find here. Almost all of their drinks are espresso based and served in small espresso cups, such as cappuccino, macchiato, ristretto, etc. Whereas our coffee is served in large mugs and not nearly as strong, usually the smallest size being a 12 oz if you go to a coffee shop. If you think about it, the Americano is aptly named, being watered down espresso. And what is espresso? Strong coffee. So if you add water to strong coffee, what do you get? A bigger cup of not as strong coffee, more similar to American coffee. And we seem to like that quantity. Soup bowls of it in the morning. You know it, all the mugs with "Don't talk to me before coffee," "Coffee First," and the likes. And we go out for coffee dates with friends that last an hour, two, or three. And that 20 oz mug of coffee will last for almost that long.

In Italy, you go to a bar, order your coffee at the bar, and throw that espresso back within a minute or two. Sometimes you sit down, but usually only if you are with someone and are at your leisure. Un caffé, or espresso, only costs 1 euro usually, so it doesn't set you back too far. You're not dropping $5 on an Ethiopian single origin organic latte with raw honey and cardamom with a twist of lemon. Actually, that sounds really good right now.

Un cappuccino from News Caffé in Florence

Not to infer that Italians always drink their coffee out and at the bar, especially when they drink it throughout the day; something with milk for breakfast, such as a cappuccino, espresso to finish off the other meals and at any other time of the day that tickles their fancy. They also prepare their own at home as well, usually involving the beloved Moka pot. According to my Italian workbook, the average Italian drinks 600 cups of caffé and cappuccino per year, and of these cups 70% are drunk at home while only 20% are drunk at a bar, and 10% at work.

Another interesting tidbit about espresso is that the word "espresso" is the Italian past tense of "esprimere" or "to express." The Italians love to express themselves (but who doesn't?) and I like to think of it as just another way in which they do that, in their art and passion for creating and drinking coffee. It also denotes express meaning the speed in which the beverage is both prepared and consumed. The express lane. So don't be too harsh on your friends when they call espresso "expresso." They're actually not as far off as we think. But still, be a good friend and correct them.

Does all this talk of coffee leave you wanting some? Me too. And cookies. But I always want cookies. You know those people who sport the mugs saying not to talk to them before coffee? Yeah, I can be that way before cookies. So today, cookies with espresso in them!!!

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Adapted from She Bakes Here

More Desserts:

Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Strawberry Shortcake

Pistachio Cake with Honey Vanilla Buttercream

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Scrumptious Apple Cake

Amaretto Mascarpone Coffee Cake

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Espresso Oatmeal Cookies

Makes about 30 small cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup / 120g all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups / 100g oats
1/4 cup / 25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup / 113g oil
1/2 cup / 100g brown sugar
1/2 cup / 100g sugar
1 egg
1 tsp / 5g vanilla extract
2 tsp ground espresso beans, ground coffee, or instant coffee
1 cup / 170g mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another large bowl, mix together oil, brown and white sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and espresso powder until well combined.
Add the dry mixture and chocolate chips to wet mixture and mix until well combined.
Drop dough by spoonful onto cookie sheets and bake for 7-10 minutes or until edges are set and center still looks a touch wet. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Jenny's Notes:

Only have white sugar or brown sugar on hand? In a recipe such as this they can easily be substituted for each other. You can use all white or all brown sugar. In Italy true brown sugar is hard to find, and it can have a strong molasses taste. I frequently use all white sugar and eliminate the brown sugar here, I can't have all my desserts tasting like molasses and gingerbread and Christmas time! :)