I finished writing my latest novel this week, and I am so excited about it I’m making biscotti to celebrate. If you’ve never made it, you are in for a such a treat. Literally. Biscotti making is ridiculously easy. Like, I don’t know why they charge so much for biscotti BECAUSE they are so easy to make.
Also (and this will come as no surprise to you, I’m sure), homemade biscotti are sooooo much better than those cardboard-ish ones you find on the shelf at the store. I mean, they don’t seem cardboard-ish if you’ve never had homemade ones. They’re tasty for sure. But once you’ve made your own? No comparison, you guys. There’s just no going back.
Which is true for most (maybe all) homemade treats. Offer me a Chips Ahoy and I have no trouble saying “No, thanks.” But hold up a platter of homemade chocolate chip cookies or chocolate chip cupcakes, and I’m hard pressed to say no. (In fact, I’m hard pressed to eat only one.)
Homemade spoils you in the best possible way.
If you’ve never had biscotti, then you’ve totally been missing out. These sweet, crunchy cookies are a delight. Dip them in your coffee, tea, or milk to soften them up, or just eat them straight (one hand held underneath to catch the crumbs, of course). You can put all sorts of nuts, dried fruits, or chocolate in them using a basic recipe.
This recipe can certainly be used for that purpose, so go ahead and substitute the heck out of it. Don’t like coconut? Leave it out. Prefer macadamia nuts to almonds? Go for it. Don’t want nuts in it at all? Don’t add them in. Want cranberries but no chocolate? Do it. I’m a huge fan of trying things out, thinking about different combinations that sound good and giving them a try. Be adventurous! You never know what amazing treat you’ll come up with.
But also rest assured that I’ll be posting a couple more biscotti recipes in the future, giving you my favorite mix-ups. Because that’s just the way I am.
The thing that makes biscotti biscotti is baking them in a log, slicing them on the diagonal, and then baking them a second time so they are crispy all the way through. Most recipes will have you lay your slices on their sides, perhaps turn them over halfway through and bake them on the other side. But I like to stand my slices up so as much surface area as possible gets the heat to dry them out.
I find that mine don’t end up crispy in the time most recipes say for the second bake, and if I keep them in the oven too much longer, they start to get a *little* over-toasty. So when time’s up, I turn the oven off and just leave them in there for about another 30 minutes while it cools. That crisps them up beautifully. (If your biscotti are still a little squishy when you take them out of the oven, they won’t ever totally crisp up. Trust me—I’ve tried. Which, in all reality, is not a terrible thing. They still taste fabulous, but they’ll be lacking the classic biscotti crunch. If you want the crunch, try the turning-off-the-oven trick. It works every time.)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 - 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, packed (optional)
- 1 cup sliced or chopped almonds, toasted (can substitute with other nuts or omit)
- 1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips (can substitute with dried fruit, like cranberries, snipped apricots, etc or omit)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C and toast almonds on an ungreased cookie sheet until golden brown. Set aside. Keep the cookie sheet for cooking the biscotti.
- Cream butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Mix in the shredded coconut.
- Add in baking powder and flour, one cup at a time, mixing until just combined. The dough should be slightly sticky. Mix in the almonds and chocolate chips.
- Divide the dough in half, forming each half into a log about 10 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 3/4 inch high. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
- Allow the logs to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F/163 C.
- Place one log on a cutting board and cut in diagonal slices about 1/2 inch thick. Repeat for the other log. Stand slices up on the cookie sheet, leaving space between each one for air to circulate, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn oven off and leave biscotti to fully harden in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- Transfer biscotti to a rack and let them cool completely. They will keep at room temperature for 3 weeks (if you can keep them around that long...I have my doubts).
Notes