Well, it’s starting! The biscotti (or cantuccini) baking marathon has begun!
Yesterday I made three batches – one chocolate chocolate chips and two basic almond biscotti. Here they are in the oven in various stages of cooking: the chocolate is on it’s last bake, an almond is on the second bake, and the whole loaves are on their first bake. This is when I wish we had two ovens!
Over the past 10 years I have used a variety of recipes, but this one has become my favorite.
These are the crunchy ones, similar to the cantuccini that we ate in Italy. If you do not want to dunk your biscotti, these are probably not for you. The recipe in an earlier post is a softer cookie. I prefer this crunchy one.
For my chocolate chocolate chip version I added chocolate chips instead of almonds and 1/3 cup of cocoa. I also left out the almond extract (substituting water) since some of these will go to my friend who’s allergic to almonds. One of the almond batches I used half white whole wheat flour.
I love this recipe because I can change it and it seems to always turn out. Hubby’s favorite is the almond biscotti with chocolate chips. Some other variations can include substituting 1/4 cup almond meal for the flour, or adding other nuts or chopped ginger. I think any dried fruit would also be good.
If you always wanted to try baking biscotti, I recommend this almost fail-proof recipe. Happy Baking!
Almond Biscotti
A Happy Acres version of Recipe #51936
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 Tbs almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup almond slivers or pieces
1. Preheat oven to 300∞F.
2. Spray baking sheets with cooking spray.
3. Combine dry ingredients including almond slivers and set aside.
4. Whisk the eggs, almond extract, and vanilla in your mixer until blended.
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
6. Dough should be thick and sticky. Don’t add any flour.
7. Flour your hands and shape into a long flat loaf or two small loaves on your baking sheets. I like making the biscotti small about 3 inches wide like cantuccini. It will spread about an inch in width so take that in consideration when you are forming the dough.
8. Bake until firm and dry, about 50 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
10. Use a serrated knife and slice into 1/2-inch wide slices.
11. Lay the slices cut side down on the baking sheet and bake another 20 minutes.
12. Turn the slices over and bake 20 minutes more.
13. Cool the biscotti on a rack; cool completely before storing.
Servings: 25
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 102 calories, 30 calories from fat, 3.6g total fat, 25.4mg cholesterol, 39.8mg sodium, 60.8mg potassium, 14.2g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 5.7g sugar, 3g protein, 29.8mg calcium, <1g saturated fat.
Mmmm… I love Biscotti! It may well be worth all the effort, just to have my very own batch of yummy stuff…
I have added your Post to my “How-to’s And Tutorials” on my Blog – hope that is ok.
Lizzie, It is so worth the effort! Thanks for including me in your How-to’s. Since your visit I’ve changed my blog to include my actual recipe that can be printed out. Thanks for dropping by.
I’m trying to get off wheat and sugar, so I’ve been looinkg for a starter recipe using almond flour, this one turned out pretty well, despite a lot of substitutions I used half chickpea flour, I added cocoa instead of chocolate chips, subbed earth balance for the fat and sweetened with a little coconut sugar and stevia. Still pretty delicious, so thanks great recipe, really simple and flexible!
Viviana, Glad that the recipe worked for you with those substitutions. That’s great to know. Thanks for dropping by.