Biscotti has been on the To-Make list for months now. A colleague who has won every baking competition at work for the past 4 years said she has tried it a couple of times and failed miserable. I was prepared for this to end poorly. I checked out the Bon Appetit cookbook and found the traditional recipe for biscotti. Anise and Almond are the original biscotti flavors that really remind me of Italy.
As we are discussing in English, an Italian dish, we ought to cover the definition of biscotti. Break up Bis indicating “twice” and Cotti meaning “cooked” and you already know a lot about this recipe. Biscotti get their crunch from being baked twice, or three times if you over analyze the recipe. We will be baking the biscotti two times to make it nice and crunchy. If you are not familiar with this cookie-cracker like treat offers a soft crunch and a mild unsweetened flavor. It is unique and considered neither a cookie or a cracker, but is its own thing – bicotti.
For this recipe I did trade the anise for anise extract, because I had the extract already. When you do this you do need to reduce the amount as extracts are more potent.
Thankfully for me, making biscotti is a cinch! I did not have any trouble with this recipe. If you have trouble see below for some ideas. I am not crazy about this flavor but went on to make two other flavors in the exact same manner, ignoring the original instructions, and they worked even better. Stay tuned for Dark Chocolate Almond and Almond Pumpkin Spice!
Take-Home Tips: The dough can be made ahead one day before and kept in the fridge. Try adding coconut flakes to the toasted almonds if you want a hint of coconut. When adding both honey and oil, measure the oil then add the honey to the same measuring cup so it comes out more easily. You should not need to scrape it out this way. If you wait until the loaves are cooled after the first bake they will be too hard to cut. When cutting the loaves, drag the blade across the crust until you break the top layer, then press the knife down to the surface rather than sliding the knife all the way through. This will reduce cracks and breakage. If your loaf is domed, be sure to break the whole surface before pressing down through the bread and almonds. This recipe pairs nicely with Warm Spiced Apple Cider as it will use your remaining orange that you zested for this recipe.
Scoring: 10 of 10! This is exactly what I wanted. The flavors blend well and the crunch is perfect. Better than store bought. The anise extract covered the kitchen at the start, but then the orange overpowered everything and the smell stayed strong. My husband immediately liked these better than the other biscotti I have made. Serve with cider, coffee, or wine.
Food of the Month 