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Friday, September 26, 2008

Best Biscotti Recipe

My Grandmother would keep her breakfast bar stocked with this biscotti during the holidays. I remember how the aroma would fill up the whole house when she baked it. It smelled heavenly and tasted delicious. For me, this is the best biscotti I've ever had.


Ingredients:
3 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
3 tsp anise seed
1 tsp lemon extract
1tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs. Add the extracts and almonds. Add the dry ingredients and mix.

3. Shape into two oblong loaves and place on two parchment-lined baking sheets.

4. Place in a 325 preheated heated oven for twenty five minutes.

5. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Keep oven on.

6. With a serrated knife, cut the loaves into diagonal slices about 1/2 inch wide.

7. Place slices on their sides and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from oven and cool.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ohh thank you for the recipe!
I love biscotti, and don't make it as often as I should ( the double baking and all) hehe
But passed down recipes are usually the best! :))

V-V

Sarah J. said...

Yum! That looks delicious and I will definitely try it :)

Dee Light said...

I haven't made Biscotti in such a long time. I will have to give this a try.

Love your blog.

Renna said...

I have never made biscotti, and yet I love it. If I had the anise seed and almonds on hand, I'd make some today!

Do you know how long it stays good? I've been thinking of making some for Christmas gifts, and am wondering how far ahead I could bake it?

Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I like trying new recipes when I know they are tried and true! :-)

Bunny said...

I made up a batch of this today. It is really Yummy! Thanks for the recipe. Mine did not turn out very crispy though. Are there any hints or tips you can give on how big the loaves should be to cook best. or is it just the difference between gas oven versus electric?

Anonymous said...

I was wondering about how big the loaves should be. I was thinking this would be a great take away treat after Thanksgiving dinner.

And just to clarify because I a freak each loaf should have their own baking sheet right? Will a parchment lined jelly roll pan be ok?

And finaly I hate anise, can I just omit those seeds and have it more of an Almond flavor?

Julie said...

I came by from a link on Craftzine... have been before from there and your stuff always looks great!

This recipe looks wonderful and I will add it to my stash - I've been making biscotti for about 12 years now and love it - it's my husband's favorite.

a couple of answers to a few of the questions - usually biscotti recipes say the loaves should be about 3" wide by 12 - 13" long. Usually you can get two side by side on a parchment lined cookie/loaf pan. Recipes usually make two loaves (sometimes four.) Up the cooking time in the second or third baking by a couple of minutes to add to the crispiness.

Biscotti recipes are very forgiving in the nuts you use, or so I think. I often substitute hazelnuts for almonds, or do a combo. Pistachios are also really good in biscotti. If you don't like anise, try lavender buds - they would be good with the lemon I think; or just leave it out.

Mary Gondola said...

I just made these, and you're right- they are the best biscotti I've had! They're simple but so rich tasting. Yum! Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

I've made many batches of biscotti and I have a couple suggestions to people who haven't made them before.
Since you cut the loaf at an angle, you normally have some smaller bits cut off the corners. You can minimize this by forming your loaves into a parallelogram shape instead of a rectangle. Also, the cooling time. I've never been able to get good results with short cooling. If I don't wait till the loaf is fully cooled, the nuts will just slip around and ruin the appearance. I let my loaves cool completely. This lets everything firm up, making clean cuts easy. I often let them cool a couple hours. That is probably excessive, but once the oven is off, it isn't very important.

zakkalife said...

crewjulie & youngfrey,

thanks for answering wendyloohoo's questions and giving suggestions, I always appreciate when people share their tips of what works or doesn't work for them.

rachael said...

i love biscotti...thanks for the recipe!

Silvia said...

hi found the recipe today and also tried today! mnam! have used only half of the sugar and for the other half I used maple syrup. also put in a little toasted coconut and in the second loaf i mixed a handful of yogi berries. already tasted oh it's sooo good. THX ALOT for the great recipe!

Del Gee said...

They are baking as I type, should be very good. In the past I've always toasted on both of the cut sides, this recipe doesn't state that. I also added a tablespoon of lemon juice, not just for flavor but to help the baking powder work better.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking about this recipe for a baby shower. Do you think they'd be too sweet if I dipped in white chocolate or drizzled w/ it. Do you have a better suggestion? I can't wait to try your recipe. Thanks

zakkalife said...

Anonymous,

If you're worried about them being too sweet, I would use dark chocolate. The biscotti has a distinct anise flavor so you would want something that would match that. I think the dark chocolate would work fine, dipped or drizzled.

Hope this helps :)

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