From Scratch to Scrumptious

“Biscotti” is Latin for cooked twice. Because these cookies are dried out during their second round in the oven, their shelf-life is very long.

I always keep a batch in my pantry. They’re nice to have for surprise guests or for when you want just a little something sweet to compliment your morning coffee (or your afternoon coffee, I won’t judge).

Flour: All-purpose flour

Baking powder: The levening agent. You’ll get more rise out of this dough than you may expect. Be sure to leave at least 2″ between rolls of dough to account for this.

Vegetable oil: Oil results in a crispier cookie, which is why I prefer it for biscotti.

Almond extract: If you prefer an anise-flavored biscotti, swap the almond extract for anise extract in a 1:1 ratio.

Almonds: I like to use roasted salted almonds. I find it’s easier to buy one type of almond for baking and eating. Make life simple on yourself; bake with what you eat! In my opinion, the salt from the almonds doesn’t affect the final flavor of the biscotti. If you are sensitive to salt, you may want to use lightly salted or unsalted almonds. (See the next section for tips on how to crush the almonds.)

My husband and I like almonds in our biscotti because it makes them a heartier snack. Unfortunately, my kids prefer no nuts. I usually shape my first half of the dough without nuts and then mix almonds into the remaining dough. In the picture below, you can see the nuts in the center biscotti.

Place almonds in a baggie and lightly pound with the flat side of a meat mallet or other heavy object until broken up to desired size. I find that it’s easier to slice the hot biscotti if the almonds are broken up a bit.

One of the best baking tips I’ve learned is that sticky dough, whether bread or cookie, won’t stick to wet hands. It’s amazing!

Use a spatula or wooden spoon to scoop out half of the dough. Dampen your hands, and coax the dough into a roll as long as your cookie sheet will allow. You want the thickness to be 1/2″ high, which is more important than the overall shape of the dough. My dough ends up measuring about 13″ by 4″.

If you want mini biscotti, you can divide the dough into thirds and shape them however wide you want, but be sure to get 1/2″ thickness.

After the first bake, you’ll cut the biscotti slab into slices so the sides of each cookie can be baked to dry them out.

How NOT to do it: The standard way to cut biscotti, which I don’t care for or use, is to allow the giant cookie to cool slightly and then cut with a serrated knife. I didn’t want to use a knife on my baking sheets, and it’s nearly impossible to move a warm slab of cookie to a cutting board.

How to do it RIGHT: Try the pizza-cutter method! Immediately after removing the biscotti from the oven, use a pizza cutter to carefully slice into 3/4″ pieces. Because the edges are crisper than the center, you’ll get a nicer slice if you cut starting on each side, meeting in the middle.

Then use a spatula to loosen the cookies from the baking sheet. Flip each cookie cut-side up and bake once more!