Did Somebody Say, "Biscotti?"

I have a personal list in my head of things that I aspire to learn, improve upon, or try at least once.

Things like making good pies and gravy, learning to knit, repainting small pieces of furniture, becoming a better writer and drying my own herbs, to name a few.

Up until last week, making biscotti was on that list of things I admired from afar and wanted to put my hand to, but never quite got around to trying.

The real incentive behind putting my hand to this particular task was that fact that I was to provide snack for Ladies Night- that special evening that comes about once- a- month when a group of about 8-12 of us in approximately the same age group get together at an appointed home for an activity, opportunity to chat, and, of course, a snack! This snack can be as simple as you want to make it, but sometimes it's fun, as time & inspiration allows, to make something special or try something new.

Biscotti, according to one source, are oblong, thick, brittle cookies designed to be dipped in coffee, cocoa, or dessert wine. Originally from Italy, the term "biscotti" comes from the Latin for "twice baked" because the cookies must be baked twice to make them dry and crunchy.

The fact that biscotti is made for the purpose of dipping into hot drinks made it the perfect option for a snack on a cold winter night. And just for the record, even though tea is not mentioned as one of the above liquids for dunking, I tried it and it was one of my favorites (no surprises there, right?)

Biscotti has always looked a bit intimidating to me, but once I started taking a closer look at various recipes, I realized that the dough is very similar to cookie dough, which isn't all that scary normally, and that while the process of making biscotti is different, it isn't all that different, so therefore it was within the realm of things that I could approach with only a small amount of fear and trembling!

Having decided that I wanted to make two different kinds, for more variety and more practice, I waded through all 58 options on one of my most reliable recipe sources, Taste of Home!

Just so you know, the recipes I used are written as they appear in Taste of Home...the notes and pictures that follow come from my experience making them!

Lemon Anise Biscotti

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 tsp. aniseed, crushed

1. In a small bowl, beat eggs & sugar for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add oil and extracts; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; beat into egg mixture. Beat in lemon peel and aniseed.

2. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, shape each into a 12-in. by 2-in. rectangle. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten to a 1/2 in. thickness.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden & tops begin to crack. Carefully remove to wire racks; cool for 5 minutes.

4. Transfer to a cutting board; cut with a serrated knife into scant 3/4- in. slices. Place cut side down on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn and bake 5-7 minutes longer or until firm and golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 3 dozen.

Notes & Pictures: 

Naturally, one of the things that attracted me to this recipe in the first place was that it included lemon ingredients! I used freshly grated lemon peel and it was the most cheerful addition ever to the dough! 

I didn't have anise seed among the spices in my cupboard, so I added it to my shopping list since I needed a few ingredients at the store anyway. Once at the store, I had a good deal of trouble finding the spice and when I did, I nearly dropped the innocent little bottle because of the price tag! After some mental debate, I decided to go ahead and buy it since the occasion was special, my three children were turning the grocery aisle into a three-ring circus, and it was running into lunch-time, but next time I'll try to check our local bulk food store, which tends to have better prices on spices.

In case you're not familiar with anise, it has a distinct licorice flavor, and for whatever reason, this is a rather common spice in biscotti. 

The biggest discrepancy I found with the recipe was how much flour it called for vs. how much I had to put in! After following the recipe carefully, I dumped the dough out of the mixing bowl in order to shape it into loaves...only to be faced with an impossibly sticky mound of goop! Back into the mixing bowl it went and this time I added flour a little bit at a time until I could handle the dough nicely, which is pretty important since you're going to be forming it into relatively precise loaves.  

The loaves looked a bit bumpy and irregular out of the oven, but the good news is that once they are sliced and baked, one will never notice a few imperfections! 

I wasn't exactly sure how long a perfectly- baked piece of biscotti should stay in the oven, but I baked the slices approximately the time specified in the recipe and until they felt firm and dry to the touch and were a light golden brown. If you're comparing them to a cookie, you are going to find them rather hard, but if you remember that they are a crunchy cookie and, at least by American standards, meant to be dunked into a hot drink, then all is well!!!  

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. beaten egg
1 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted & cooled
1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules
1/2 tsp. hot water
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. In a small bowl, cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and semisweet chocolate until blended. Dissolve coffee granules in hot water; beat into chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the chocolate mixture.

2. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead in almonds. On a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, shape the dough into a 12-in. by 3-in, rectangle. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes.

3. Transfer to a cutting board; cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 13 slices. Place cut side down on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm and crispy, turning once. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

4. Drizzle white chocolate over biscotti; let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 13 cookies

Notes & Pictures:

Toasting nuts in a little skillet is quite simple as long as you stir frequently over low heat! They go from the "browned" stage to the "burnt" stage rather quickly, so keep an eye on them and remove from the heat once they are nicely toasted. 

I used the semi-sweet baking squares and it melted nicely in the microwave. 

I made a double recipe of this batch and once again I found I needed quite a bit more flour than the recipe called for. My rule of thumb with biscotti soon turned into adding flour until the dough was a good consistency for handling and shaping into loaves. 

Kneading the toasted almonds into the dough was rather interesting, but this dough was very nice to handle once I added the necessary amount of flour! 

The chocolate biscotti ended up in larger loaves- and therefore larger pieces- than the lemon anise biscotti, but that was okay! I would say they were a similar consistency, and the smaller of the two made up for the difference with a bigger flavor!

I used vanilla melting wafers to make a quick drizzle for the chocolate biscotti, and to make it even simpler, I put the melted substance in a ziploc bag, cut a small corner off, and used that as my pastry bag for drizzling. It was simplicity at it's best.

 I served the biscotti at Ladies Night with coffee, a variety of tea choices and fresh fruit and dip to round out the menu, and it seemed to be well-received!

On the home front- which is usually the best test kitchen- the biscotti also got high marks! The children were more than happy to be given the liberty to dunk away and I think Wesley enjoyed it more than I even thought he would! Both Wesley and one of my friends at Ladies Night said they especially enjoyed the anise biscotti, and I will say that even while it didn't look as fancy, it had the more distinct flavors of the two, with the anise & lemon, so if you like that combination, you may want to try this recipe!

Did somebody say, "Biscotti?"

Yes, that would have been me: murmuring the word to myself while crossing it off that personal list in my head of things that I aspire to learn, improve upon, or try at least once!

No worries, though. The typical trend is to add to the list as soon as one thing is deleted!

(Did somebody say, "homemade doughnuts?")