How To Make Biscotti – A Dunkers Dream!
I have said many times before that I am a dunker. It is one of life’s great pleasures to dunk a cookie into a tall cup of coffee, especially a cold brew! We have talked cookies before, but there is something so dunkable about biscotti that it can not be ignored. It is both the pre-dunk crunchiness and the shape that makes it so good for dunking. That twice baked crispiness is nicely tamed by a tasty liquid! When made right, there is also enough flavor to stand up to said liquid. With this established we must then only concern ourselves with how to make biscotti. Thankfully, it is easy.
How To Make Biscotti – Easy? Yes!
The technique for making biscotti is easy. Mixing dry ingredients with wet is at biscotti’s very foundation, but with biscotti, just mix it all together with a fork. You don’t even need a hand mixer. Biscotti is rather rugged, so there is not cutting in of flour or worrying about gluten formation. The most difficult part is thinking about what flavor you want and, in my humble opinion, a lot of flavors work.
How To Make Biscotti – Easy? Wait – What about forming then baking twice?
Really, shaping dough into a log is not difficult. Slicing the hot biscotti loaf and re-baking the slices also does not qualify to be described as difficult. Think of the twice baking as part of the reward. In absence of dunking, biscotti has a crunch that shakes the culinary world, due mostly to that second baking!
How To Make Biscotti – The Flavors
While the classic biscotti flavor is almond, I prefer pistachio with the addition of orange and cranberry. Even just pistachio would be wonderful. Of course, a 70% cacoa chcolate chip biscotti is also good. Dried fruit, nuts and chocolate do well in biscotti, so the sky is truly the limit. Other flaovrs that would work? White chocolate-cherry, Apricot, Date, etc. Another classic is anise. Add some fennel seed and there – boom – you have a very flavorful biscotti. You could also do savory, but that is a different thing.
The ‘How To Make Biscotti Two Ways’ video is below. The full recipe follows.
- I cup of sugar
- 1 stick of melted butter
- 3 eggs
- 3 tsp vanilla
- 2 ¾ cup of flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup of dried cranberries
- 1 cup of crushed pistachios
- 2 heaping tbsp orange zest
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a medium bowl, using a fork or a whisk, mix together the wet ingredients.
- In a large bowl, using a fork or a whisk, stir together the dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Refrigerate the dough 30 minutes (optional).
- On an ungreased baking sheet, using wet hands (the dough will be sticky) form the dough into 2 12x3 inch logs.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the loaves just begin to brown.
- Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and cool 10 minutes.
- Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves into ¾ - 1 inch thick slices.
- Place the slices cut side up back on the baking tray. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove the biscotti from the oven, flip them over and bake another 10 minutes. Bake until deep golden brown.
- Let cool and serve. Store in an air tight container or freeze.
- Try other dried fruits and nuts, too!
- The longer they bake, the crunchier they will be. Bake until desired crunchiness.
I hope you enjoy!
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
What is your favorite biscotti flavor? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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