How to Make Biscotti

I told you I like a lot of nuts. As you can see, there’s at least as much almond in these biscotti as there is cookie! Truly, you’ll be amazed at how easy biscotti are to make, and how little time they really take.

Begin by whisking your dry ingredients together.

Combine your sugar and eggs and beat for a couple of minutes by hand until the mixture is light and color (just use a fork, it works great).

You want it about like this:

Now add your dry ingredients:

And gently work everything together into a dough.

Add your chopped nuts and work them in by hand until they’re fully incorporated. You’ll end up with almost exactly two pounds of dough.

Divide the dough into two one-pound pieces, and on a lightly floured board, roll each into a log about an inch and a half thick.

Put the logs on a parchment-lined sheet pan and press them down until they’re basically flat. Alternately, if you like very long, coffee house-style biscotti, you can just make one big log and press that down into a double-wide sheet.

Bake in a 325 oven for 20-25 minutes. This is what they look like when they’re done. If you prefer a golden brown exterior, paint the loaves before you bake them with egg wash.

Cool for about an hour, then with your best serrated knife, slice the loaves into pieces about half an inch thick, and lay them out on a sheet pan.

Bake at 200 for another 20 minutes to dry them, then let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

2 thoughts on “How to Make Biscotti”

  1. Saturday was Biscotti Day. Did a batch verbatim (with the extra egg). Then did a nut-free version for my mom, with 3 T of almond extract.

    Both turned out well, thanks to your pics & instrucs, and the nut-frees are on their way to NH.

    Question….how can I make a lighter (fluffier?) version….my mom had mouth cancer, and these more traditional, dense biscotti can be a bit rough on her throat. I’m thinking the less-dense ones might be easier for her.

    Is it more baking powder and less eggs? Does it require an air blower? Help!

    1. Leavening makes anything lighter, so I’d add a bit more of that, but leave the egg since that will help make them more cake-like. A simpler way to go might be to just skip the drying step and serve them to her like cookies. In Italy, finished biscotti are frequently soaked in coffee until they become soft, so, that’s another potential way to go.

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