Annie,

Thanks for the recipe review. I too do not indulge in biscotti that are so hard you are in danger of cracking teeth and I don't dunk. I don't like crumby tea!

Can't for the life of me think how I missed finding this since I have so many KA recipes already. Probably because I had given up on finding one that was not rock-hard. Your biscotti look great and bet they taste that way too.

Hope all goes well with the new computer. I was lucky enough to go from xp to Win7 and skip Vista. Wishing you better luck with 8!

Kat

I will try that recipe, too. My very crunchy almond biscotti (ala La Tempesta) has many fans but a more tender Nonni's-like biscotti would be well received by others. I'll probably skip the coarse sugar and add some almonds since that is the favorite nut around here. I like to think I'm the favorite nut but I think almonds win. ;)

Eileen

Here is a link that might be useful: Is this the recipe?

Annie, I'm glad you found a recipe that works for you and they are pretty to boot. While I love Italian Biscotti, it scares me for the reasons mentioned above plus to eat it I have to make hot chocolate for dunking since I don't drink coffee.

I had a real treat while in Italy; there is a biscotti bakery in Rome (Innocenti Biscottificio Artigiano if my notes are correct). Since it was near our hotel, I couldn't pass by without taking advantage of this treasure daily. I would like to think that they are like what my grandma use to make; I didn't like them as a kid so I can't compare.

Getting a new PC is a good experience and a bad experience for me; I hope you enjoy yours.

Cathy

I am often tempted, when making biscotti, to not do the second bake. I always snack on a slice or two when slicing the logs up just before putting them in for the second bake and often think I like the once baked consistency more than the twice baked.

Annie, I'd like a piece of your biscotti asap! I love the large grained sugar! Also, the older I get, the fact is I need to be more careful biting into super crunchy foods. One chipped tooth is quite enough and I'm not a dunker either!

Annie, before you trash the old computer:

1. Remove the memory chips. Very easy. You may be able to use them in another computer and they may worth a little money.

2. Remove the power supply (The box where power plugs in). Power supplies are basically modular from one computer to another. They do get burned out sometimes. You can reuse that as a replacement.

3. You can also pull out the CPU (the brain) to replace similar CPU on another computer.

You will be amazed how many free computers you can find people throw away by replacing one of the three of the above.

dcarch

In 2010, DH and I went to Tuscany and did some cooking classes at a resort hotel. We made a biscotti-shaped cookie, which was only baked once, but it was called Tozzetti. It took me several tries to make an acceptable version once I got home because our flour is different, and our humidity is non-existent compared to that in Italy. It consists of eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, and almonds. I think I'll have to make some for the holidays....

Annie, you don't need us and the aggravation but we need you.

As you and others pointed out, biscotti really just means cookie. My Nonna used the same dough for her pizzelles, shaped cookies with glaze and biscotti. Hers were very much like yours in texture.

The Italian Pastry shop near my grandparents house had huge mounds of biscotti on top of the cases. They sold them twice baked but also sold them once baked. It was very common to have them either way. That was over 55 years ago. Brings back great memories. So, Pudge, there is no reason on earth why you have to bake them the second time. Make them how you like them. Smiles.

This post was edited by coconut-nj on Fri, Nov 30, 12 at 0:53

Oh, those look sooooo good!!! One of these days, I'm going to try this recipe (thanks for the link, barnmom!)...my biscotti recipe used olive oil instead of butter, so that'll be something new to me!

Smiles,
Sooz

I had a biscotti once that was so hard, I couldn't see the enjoyment in them. And I like my coffee to be free of crumbs, so I don't dunk.

Costco had a large ceramic jar filled with biscotti for Christmas one year and we enjoyed those biscotti's. They might have been Nonna?

Yours look perfect Annie! Light and crispy without tooth-breaking. It's pretty bad, when everything I choose to eat I second-guess it for fear of breaking a tooth (again).

Thanks for the recipe. I also don't like biscotti, at least the ones I've bought, but these might work. My coworker and I enjoy a cup of coffee in the afternoon, which we punch up with hot chocolate mix and these might be just the thing to go with it. I can keep a box of them at my desk.

Thanks

A friend of mine makes biscotti for people. She just finished making 18 dozen. One is an Orange Toscani, which is fine- textured, and the other is an Almond Orange, which is more rustic. Neither of these is as hard as some biscotti, and people order from her for that reason.

Annie, please, please, please don't leave us. I've enjoyed all your posts since I first joined and have used a lot of your recipes or ones you tried and posted. There are people on here who have caused problems for all of us and have caused us to lose other posters we really liked and enjoyed having on board. Posters that contributed great recipes and support for all. Some people don't take into consideration that we are all different and that's one of the things that make Gardenweb and the cooking forum so wonderful. There isn't one person on here that is perfect or knows it all. Only the Creator is perfect. Don't let any poster chase you away.

Sorry after reading all this I couldn't resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ3fjQa5Hls

I know it is old hope you like it.

I've often wondered about the hype over "biscotti"... the ones I've tried have been rock hard (I'm NOT a dunker), and worse, the almond extract in them has been overpowering. I can tell just from your photos that the texture of these biscotti might be something I'd actually like! I'll make a test batch and have my mother try them. :O)

FWIW, I'm another infrequent poster and huge fan who LOVES to see you posting on this forum!

CL - I spent 5:32 waiting for a line with biscAtti vs biscOtti that I didn't remember, LOL!

Annie - do try to ignore the know-it-all posters as they are everywhere in life. Apparently it makes them feel more secure if they can put someone down. I am not a pro cooker, but enjoy cooking and find it therapeutic and have learned not to take it too seriously. Life is short, so enjoy your biscotti while I try to find your recipe.

I like our American coffee shop cookie so-called Biscotti for dunking, but the better, less tooth-shattering, cookie I prefer is the Jewish Mandelbrot, or same softer cookie called Italian Cantucci. Twice-baked, I like mine with lots of almonds, anise seeds, and anisette liquor (butter is part of these cookies). The cookie improves with age - some I have from two years ago, as a test, is quite more licorice-y than this year's batches and is no way spoiled as other cookies might be after a time, let alone two years, and it does not have to be dunked. It is not inexpensive, unless you grow your own almonds and have an anise patch.

Nancy

FWIW - I make Giada's Holiday Biscotti every Christmas. I don't overbake it the second round so it is not too hard. It has lemon zest in it and is really delicious.

Here is a link that might be useful: Holiday Biscotti

All this talk about rock-hard biscotti has made me want to try some and see what all the fuss is about. Crazy, huh? I don't think I've ever had any that were so hard I feared for the safety of my teeth.

I don't make biscotti but rather Greek paximadia. Similar idea -- a twice baked cookie. My family's recipe is very rich: two cubes of butter, 1 cup sugar, & 3 eggs to 5-1/2 cups of flour. I like them very toasty, so they end up hard but not tooth shattering. Maybe the butter keeps them on the short side.

Anyhow, my curiosity is piqued. Now I want to try a rock-hard biscotti just for the heck of it.

Shambo - that is too funny. Go to your nearest coffee shop and try a biscotti. No dunking in coffee please. Report back - with or without your teeth!

Teresa

shambo, a coffee shop biscotti isn't going to do it, I actually like those, although I don't try to eat without dunking.

Bake a batch of your own and bake them the second time until they are not chewy. Then you'll see what I mean. They aren't crunchy, they are hard, although I'm not sure I actually ever feared for my teeth. My mother can't eat them, though, she DOES fear for her teeth, as she is 77 and has already lost a couple of teeth due to osteoporosis and the degeneration of her jaw bone.

Of course, if there are dentists in the family you might lobby loudly for the rock hard stuff, LOL.

Actually, the original hard biscotti was made because, as Nancedar said, it kept unspoiled for long periods of time, useful for things like long ocean voyages, kind of an almond or anise flavored hardtack. It was only dunked in coffee or wine so that it would be palatable at all.

Mine's gone, anyway. Elery doesn't eat cookies and he liked them a lot, not very sweet and crunchy but not hard. Now I'm working on molasses cookies and chocolate chip cookies for the freezer, getting a jump on the Christmas baking.

Now if I can just get AT&T to help with my extremely unreliable and intermittent internet connection.....

Annie

Annie - how do you know "a coffee shop biscotti isn't going to do it?" LOL

Shambo stated she doesn't make biscotti - just wanted to try it out.

Shambo - years ago my friend Angelina made paximadia and brought them to school. Her cookies had a light cinnamon taste and they might have had walnuts.

Teresa

I love Shambo's Greek version of biscotti - gave them to lots of people for gifts last year.

My mom makes a biscotti that calls for oil in the recipe. Her's have a different texture than the biscotti I have made - rather more of a "short" texture like a pastry crust. They are tasty and not rock hard.

I'm beginning to think that many more cuisines have twice baked cookies than I may have thought before?

Teresa

Annie, I went searching for what an "authentic" biscotti recipe would be. The best I could surmise is that traditional biscotti don't have any butter. The liquid & fat come from eggs alone. So I can see how they'd bake up extremely hard. Maybe this is a quest I should forget.

However, I think I'd like the KAF recipe flavored with anise. I'm not much for dried fruit or nuts, so a plain, toasty, anise-flavored biscotti sounds good to me. The paximadia I make are plain with just a touch of orange & vanilla. Not too sweet either, which is probably why I like them so much.

I'd love some of your molasses cookies though, Annie. They're my favorite non-Greek cookie. I'm not a cookie maker at all. Something about all the plopping of individual blobs of dough on several baking sheets -- it just seems like too much work to me.

Teresa, a coffee shop biscotti won't work if she really wants one of the rock hard cement-like biscotti that I make. I can eat the ones at the coffee shops, even the "authentic" shops in Chicago or Detroit. I can't eat the ones I make though, not even when dunked.

Shambo, you and Ashley would get along. She thinks it's too much trouble to bake cookies at all, she just eats the dough!

I need to try your praximadia, I might like those even better!

Annie

Is biscotti like Zwyback? Those ones you use to buy for kids that are teething?

I like the violently hard ones quite a lot. It's like a snack and a dare all in one. I don't even dunk 'em- I'm hard core like that. The key is to gnaw at different angles until you hit a weak spot :-)

You said a mouthful there, Jessicavanderhoff! That's how I eat - or used to eat - rock hard biscotti. LOL!!

Teresa

Stuartwanda, "Zweiback" means "twice-baked" just as "biscotti" and "biscuit" do.
So it's the same process, bake the dough as a loaf, then slice it and bake it again to end up with something like sweet, completely dry toast. But biscotti taste a lot better than baby zweiback.

The key is to gnaw at different angles until you hit a weak spot

There is a joke in there somewhere... darfc

"It's like a snack and a dare all in one."

Now that made me laugh!

Teresa

According to my mother I teethed on aniseed biscotti, which accounts for my fondness for them. Annie's look similar in texture to the Italian imported ones I buy, which are more firm than rock hard, with firm edges and crumbly slightly soft centres.

"The key is to gnaw at different angles until you hit a weak spot" - yes! That's how I eat these, I nibble all round like a bird. It's not really eating, it's more like erosion. You expend more calories trying to eat the hockey puck than you get from it.

Cheryl

LOL, Jessica, that's what I do with the coffee shop biscotti, I just can't chip enough off mine to suit me.

Cheryl, you are right, you expend more calories than you take in, which might not be a bad thing.

Biscotti aerobics, it's the new diet and training system all in one!

Annie

Ha! You're the woman to find it, Jessy.

I laughed out loud at erosion and aerobics. Bahahaha. I think during this season of waterboarding Christmas cookies, you gotta burn calories wherever you can!

Annie - maybe you should bake a batch of the rock hard biscotti you've been talking about. Mail it to oretom for Christmas/Hanukka/whatever. I always say there is nothing like a good workout to lift the spirits(or the mood in this case).

Teresa

"Shambo, you and Ashley would get along. She thinks it's too much trouble to bake cookies at all, she just eats the dough!"

Annie, I have fond memories of snitching the dough from my grandmother's kourabiedes (Greek powdered sugar cookies) and her koulouria (Greek sesame seed twists). I think it was because both doughs were heavy with real butter. That was before I knew about the dangers of raw egg and also when margarine was touted as the healthy choice, so that's what my mom cooked with. The only time I ever got to taste real butter was at Christmas when those cookies were made. The raw dough was almost as much of a treat as the baked cookies. So, yes, Ashley & I would probably have fun just munching on raw dough together.

Just catching up with this thread. Annie, hoping you have decided to stick around as I need my occasional fix of the Monkey Princess, Bud and the rest of your whole fam damily. I still laugh at the redneck wedding.

I don't like biscotti with anise -- or anything with anise. My test for biscotti is breaking them in half. If I can't, then I don't eat them.

dedtired, I'm still here, I was just in a snit, being totally frustrated with my computer, my inconsistent and expensive internet connection and life in general.

I still say it's biscotti, though, and it's the first biscotti that I've ever made that you could break in half. Mine could be used for driveway pavers. And I dunk, it doesn't help. My homemade biscotti sucks, always. Until this one.

I do like anise, but I've got to figure out how to make this one gingerbread flavored. Yes, I know, it's REALLY not traditional, LOL, but I'm thinking little flecks of crystallized ginger and molasses or dark brown sugar...

I am sorry I caused such a row, though, I usually shrug such stuff off. It's only cooking, after all, and LindaC and I have duked it out before with no permanent damage to either participant, LOL.

Annie

This post was edited by annie1992 on Tue, Dec 4, 12 at 21:48

(((annie))) me too lately. You were just fine. These things happen.

I knew you would never leave. We've all had days (and lives!) like that. Yes, it is biscotti.

Annie,

You know you can't post such a yummy picture without the recipe!! LOL!

I'd love to add these to my cookie recipe stash.

Technology continues to frustrate us all!

I'm glad you're over your "snit" and back with us!

Hugs,
E

Annie, steamed?

No, I am not talking about that. LOL!

I think if you steam the very hard Biscotti, they will be soft and chewable. Steaming will not make them soggy.

dcarch

Well, now, dcarch, why in the world should I bake biscotti, bake it again, then steam it to undo the baking, LOL, that would just be an extra step.

Here is the King Arthur recipe. They do give options for flavoring, I'm thinking orange flavoring and a dunk in dark chocolate would be nice and of course I'll have to try that gingersnap thing, although they do not give that as an option. I did not spray them with water and they still sliced just fine. You know how those days goes, I couldn't even find a spray bottle for water!

American-Style Vanilla Biscotti
Here it is, a biscotti recipe everyone can enjoy � unlike classic Italian biscotti, which are quite hard, these are light and crunchy. Biscotti bake twice rather than once, and thus take a bit longer start-to-finish than normal drop cookies. But the dough is put together exactly like drop cookie dough. And if your kitchen skills include shaping a meatloaf and slicing a loaf of bread, you've got what it takes to make delicious, gorgeous biscotti.
6 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
coarse white sparkling sugar, for sprinkling on top, optional

1) Preheat the oven to 350�F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract (if you're using it), and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

3. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.

4) Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Divide it in half, and shape it into two 9 1/2" x 2" logs, about 3/4" tall. Straighten the logs, and smooth their tops and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here. Sprinkle with coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired, pressing it in gently.

5) Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven.

6) Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the logs, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier. Reduce the oven temperature to 325�F.

7. Wait 5 minutes, then use a sharp chef's knife or serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1/2" to 3/4" slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal, for fewer, longer biscotti. As you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake.

8) Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, until they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They'll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they'll continue to dry out as they cool.

9) Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Store airtight at room temperature; they'll stay good for weeks.

Yield: 30 to 40 biscotti, depending on size.

Tips from our bakers

Variations: Add up to 2 cups nuts, dried fruit (dried, not fresh), or chips to the dough, along with the flour. Adjust the spice to suit the add-in, if desired; e.g., add 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 cup chopped dried apple and 1 cup diced pecans. Or substitute hazelnut, butter-rum, or your favorite flavor for the vanilla. A classic Italian anise biscotti is made with 1/2 teaspoon anise extract (or 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon anise oil, to taste), and 1 tablespoon fennel seeds.

I am getting better with the computer, I actually finally figured out how to open two browser windows at the same time, copy and paste from the King Arthur website, and hopefully it'll end up here without strange symbols.

I'm switching to a cable internet service next Tuesday, it should cut my bill in half and maybe give me internet access all the time, instead of getting a "not available" message about once every five minutes. If I get that message in the middle of a post, the whole post is gone, I have to close the browser window and start all over again. It's frustrating as heck. Grrr.

Annie

I don't know why Dcarch would suggest steaming either! Surely there is a sous vide option - No? :-)

Teresa

"Surely there is a sous vide option - No?"

Ha! That's funny!

Sous vide biscotti. How much more cutting edge can you get?

And dcarch says sous vide will make anything tender, right?

Jim

This post was edited by jimster on Wed, Dec 5, 12 at 16:11

Annie - you reminded me that I need to get moving on making biscotti for the cookie tray. I usually do make them now and they keep quite nicely.

If you are interested, I have a lemon ginger biscotti recipe that has gotten a lot of raves over the years - and it has the chunks of crystllized ginger to add the kick.

And traditional or not, if you like the recipe you posted, thats all that matters

Alexa

Alexa, I'd love to see that recipe, those are two flavors that I love. Somehow, though, I'm sure that by the time I'm done with it, it'll be driveway pavers.....

Annie