Category Archives: Biscotti

I told you I like a lot of nuts. As you can see, there’s at least as much almond in these biscotti as there is cookie! Truly, you’ll be amazed at how easy biscotti are to make, and how little time they really take.

Begin by whisking your dry ingredients together.

Combine your sugar and eggs and beat for a couple of minutes by hand until the mixture is light and color (just use a fork, it works great).

You want it about like this:

Now add your dry ingredients:

And gently work everything together into a dough.

Add your chopped nuts and work them in by hand until they’re fully incorporated. You’ll end up with almost exactly two pounds of dough.

Divide the dough into two one-pound pieces, and on a lightly floured board, roll each into a log about an inch and a half thick.

Put the logs on a parchment-lined sheet pan and press them down until they’re basically flat. Alternately, if you like very long, coffee house-style biscotti, you can just make one big log and press that down into a double-wide sheet.

Bake in a 325 oven for 20-25 minutes. This is what they look like when they’re done. If you prefer a golden brown exterior, paint the loaves before you bake them with egg wash.

Cool for about an hour, then with your best serrated knife, slice the loaves into pieces about half an inch thick, and lay them out on a sheet pan.

Bake at 200 for another 20 minutes to dry them, then let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Classic biscotti are loaded with almonds, which is why they cost two bucks apiece at Starbuck’s. This recipe has plenty, about twelve dollars worth, so it may be a budget-buster for some of you (it was for me this week). Feel free to scale back on the nuts. You can swap out some dried fruits like cranberries if you want to (they’d go great with orange zest…if you decided to go that route).

Almond-Citrus Biscotti

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon lemon or orange zest
3 cups chopped (not sliced) almonds

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In another, combine the eggs and sugar and beat by hand until light in color. Add the extracts, zest, nuts and dry ingredients.

On a lightly floured board, divide the dough into two pieces. Shape each piece into a long, flat slab the length of the sheet pan, set about two inches apart.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaves are golden and slightly cracked. Cool completely on a rack. Meanwhile, reduce your oven heat to 200. Slice the biscotti into ½-inch pieces with a serrated knife, lay them out on sheet pans, and bake another 20 minutes, until crisp.