Monday, July 21, 2008

Any Way You Want It Biscotti


I didn't used to like biscotti. Dry, hard, relatively flavourless cookies - who wants that? Then one day a few years ago I tried my step dad's mom's biscotti. The way she made it was plain, with no added flavours or extras except for vanilla, and the taste was so deliciously addictive.


I got the recipe from her (and wrote out the instructions in a weird way but thankfully I understand them and hopefully you will understand what I've written - if not please let me know!). I've made this biscotti recipe in several different ways over the years. Pumpkin spice, white chocolate & pistachio, Smarties (Smarties are better than M&M's by the way), almonds, and chopped up Crispy Crunch bar. The two biscotti pictured here are almond and Crispy Crunch. I did try another recipe for cinnamon sugar biscotti, and that was good, but this is the recipe that I go back to over and over again.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Banana Nut Shortbread
Caramel Almond Tiger Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies


Any Way You Want It Biscotti

2 to 2 1/2 cups flour (I usually add 2 1/2 cups but if it seems like too much add 2)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
optional add ins: chopped up nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, etc), chocolate chunks or chips, dried fruit, spices (cinnamon, pumpkin spice, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, etc), chopped up chocolate bar, cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a baking sheet (parchment paper, silpat). Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices if adding them). Mix together wet ingredients separately (eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil). If adding anything else, add that now.

Spread the dough on the prepared baking sheet into a good size rectangle (the dough doesn't rise that much so spread the dough approximately how high you want the biscotti to be). Wet the back of a spoon to spread the dough if necessary (it can get sticky). Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

Take the biscotti out of the oven, and cut the rectangle "hot dog way" (sorry had to add that in there! it means the longer way). Then cut each new rectangle into strips, turn them on their sides, and bake for another 10 minutes (or 20 minutes if you want to make sure they're good and crunchy/hard). Whatever shape and size you cut them into now is what you'll end up with so if you want them smaller, cut them into more pieces. Remove the biscotti from the oven and transfer to cooling racks.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love a recipe that can easily be modified! I'm not a fan of biscottis either, and I thought it's simply coz I'm not a coffee-drinker, and the world has a conspiracy against us non-coffee people. But Smarties biscotti? I've got to give it a try.

Btw, Smarties is most definitely better than M&Ms. :D

Anonymous said...

My Mom makes the best biscotti ever - only she does not twice-bake them. They are almond slices (she calls them) and they are unbelievable!

Patricia Scarpin said...

I must be the last person on earth who has never tried biscotti - these are making my mouth water!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Smarties in biscotti? My husband would go nuts for that!

Deborah said...

I really need to try this out. I've never had biscotti, much less made it.

kickpleat said...

i've made biscotti once and it turned out really well. i'll try this recipe too...but i do love m&m's better than smarties ;)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I never used to like biscotti either (and still don't really favor it) - you've convinced me that I need to give it another chance though! Yum!

grace said...

smarties!! i don't like biscotti...yet. i'll give this a try and maybe i'll be a convert too. :)

Anonymous said...

chopped up candy bars in biscotti!! oh yeah!! that sounds soooo good!!

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I used to feel the same way as you about biscotti. . . and still do. But yours actually look good! And what a gorgeous plate.

Johanna GGG said...

I am not a biscotti fan as I think dry biscuit is no fun - but interested in your recipe and your enthusiasm - maybe...

CookiePie said...

Those look delicious!!! I'll be making rosemary biscotti and cappuccino biscotti tomorrow night for my upcoming book shoot -- and your pics are so inspiring!!

Oh for the love of food! said...

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes ;o)
The only Biscotti I've ever had were thinly sliced almond ones. These look great but I wonder if my jaw would survive them? Ha!Ha!

Fitness Foodie said...

I made biscotti once, and it is was fun to make and you are right so many great flavors. I like espresso and chocolate or cherry and chocolate.

Anonymous said...

Awesome recipe, I love how versatile it is! Biscotti are almost always good, no matter the flavor combo.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

These look delicious and I am loving the green plate. Want, want, need!

Katie said...

Yum! Gorgeous photos. Your blog is great!

LisaRene said...

I have a love/hate with biscotti, totally depends on the texture. I made some a while back that are on my blog, their egg free and have very little sugar and no fat, surprisingly they taste pretty good but are quite hard. As you may have noticed, I share a lot of what I bake with my dogs and parrot since everything is organic, healthy, low fat and low/no sugar. My biscotti made great hard, crunchy dog treats!!!

VeganCowGirl said...

Sexy, yummy, delicious, fun, fantastic, tasty, daring, funny, well written, great photos! Totally in love with this well designed and well done blog.

Anonymous said...

These look fantastic!! I'm going to try them with white whole wheat flour, since I've been looking for a good biscotti recipe for my biscuit bakery. Since I eat them too, they've got to taste good. Yup, me and the dogs, we share treats. Maybe I'll add some carob chips. Maybe I'll make some just for me with pecans and chocolate. Coveting the plate as well. It's beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I tried this recipie with chocolate chips and pecans and it tasted really good, but all the cookies fell apart when I tried to cut them.

eatme_delicious said...

Anonymous: Did you cut them after the initial 30 minute bake? If you did and they were crumbly, maybe try cutting them at 20 minutes? Or maybe it was too much flour?