Biscotti
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
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Ingredients
Yield:About 24 cookies
- 1vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
- ¾cup granulated sugar
- ½cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2eggs
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2cups all-purpose flour
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1¼cups slivered almonds, coarsely chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
135 calories; 7 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 73 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Position rack in center of oven. With a small knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and place in a small bowl. Add the sugar and use your fingers to mix the vanilla evenly into the sugar. Set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter until light. Add the vanilla sugar and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and almonds and stir into the butter mixture.
- Step 2
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, shape each piece of dough into a log that is about 1¼ inches in diameter. Place the logs on the baking sheet, spacing them as far apart as possible. Bake in the center of the oven until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.
- Step 3
Place the logs on a cutting board and let them cool slightly. With a serrated knife, cut the logs on the diagonal into ½-inch-thick pieces. Place on the baking sheet, cut side down. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, turning once. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.
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Cooking Notes
Tom-in-Utah
Metric 150g Sugar 113g Unsalted Butter 2 Eggs 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract (if no beans) 275g AP Flour 1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder 0.5 teaspoon Salt 145g Slivered Almonds
nancy
Sharing some wisdom I’ve found in making these many times in past year. Toasted almonds are better than untoasted. (Do in microwave or buy at Trader Joe’s) but chop raw almonds before toasting...easier. Dough is sticky....oil your hands to shape logs. shape a rough log and then stretch it out...no need to “roll” it. A non-serrated knife is best for slicing. Serrated knife seems to create more crumbs and breakage. The partial baked logs very fragile. Montmorency cherries are great addition!
Candace Gallagher
Delicious! I did not have a vanilla bean, so I used a full tablespoon of vanilla extract in the dough. They were great!
JD
Chill the dough after it’s rolled into logs and wrapped in plastic wrap.
Eileen
I have a question about the shape of these. I've never made biscotti, but this recipe says to shape them into 1-1/4" logs. Even cut on a diagonal, it seems this would make them closer to wafer-size. Are people following these instructions, or making wider loafs, and does that impact baking time?
Deborah
The list and quantity of ingredients is almost identical to another recipe I have. I form two logs and bake for 26 minutes at 350 degrees. I make cranberry pistachio; pecan, candied orange rind, and chopped bittersweet chocolate; chopped bittersweet, sour cherry, and black pepper; candied ginger; espresso, hazelnut and chopped bittersweet chocolate....the possibilities endless.
jtherieau
My grandmother always added crushed anise seed. I also add a teaspoon of Amaretto & a little zested orange rind. The less butter you use, the harder & crunchier the biscotti. (Sometimes I don't add any butter at all.) Dip in wine as you're eating them.
ccfca
Sadly, I checked the date on my baking powder AFTER putting these in the oven... yep, expired and the dough didn’t rise. Just adding this note as a reminder to others not to make my mistake ;-)
Ruth
The classic Italian recipes I know do not have any butter. I put just flour, sugar and 2 eggs and one egg yolk. They do not need any fat. I prefer them without butter. Otherwise they won't have the typical Cantucci taste.
Patrick McKee
This is a good, basic recipe for biscotti, giving you plenty of license to spice things up. I did this by adding 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds, the zest of one whole California Naval orange, and roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts instead of almond slivers. Because of the added wet ingredient I leave it in the oven for an extra 5-10 minutes on the first round of baking. It comes out tasting and looking fabulously every time.
Julia
Made them as directed. In order to get that nice biscotti crunch, bake for longer otherwise you get a chewy center.
Linda
2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp almond, 1 c. Pignoli
Pat Kuta
In my Italian family, they weren't "real" biscotti if there weren't any anis or fennel seeds added.
MK
add 1 cup chopped pistachios and 1 cup chopped cranberries - evenly chopped small.
nancy
Wow! I can’t stop eating these! Finally a biscotti with the “right” texture. My vanilla bean was ‘off’ so didn’t use that sugar and added the extra tsp of extract. Will try now with almonds and dried sweetened cranberries.
ohoolahoop
Split into two batches. Did one with fennel (close enough to anise), lemon zest, and toasted slivered almond. The other was chocolate chips, dried sour cherries, and toasted chopped pecans. Last time, did two full batches, same except cherry one was with pistachios.
Lesley
I used half the butter (with confidence thanks to the other comments) and I'm happy to report back that - after years of searching - these were my perfect biscotti: not too soft, not too hard, and not too rich. I added chopped dried cherries and a dash of cinnamon. I also did an egg wash and sprinkled it with turbinado sugar. Will definitely be making again!
connie
Add 1-2 tsp of anise
connie
Add 1T vanilla and
Cindy B
I am addicted to these cookies.. only drawback is that they are labor intensive.. Totally worth it.
Will
This was my first time making biscotti and while the recipe worked ok, the flavor was a little too basic and a little too sweet. Also the shape wasn't quite what I had hoped - the dough didn't flatten out much, so the cookies ended up a little shorter than expected, even when cut diagonally. Next time I think I'd reduce the sugar, and make the log bigger. But as a basic recipe to add some other flavors, it's a good starting point.
Taylor d.
Really good Add pistachios and cranberries Would also add cardamom and consider cinnamon! Good with Kodiak cake mix instead of flour 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter worked fine
Julia F
A few things: first of all, these got RAVE reviews! Perfect accompaniment for a sweet wine or coffee. I will say, I thought the whole vanilla sugar production was unnecessary, so I skipped it & stuck with the 2 teaspoons of extract. If your baking sheets are a little cramped like mine, 2 logs works just fine & makes a great size. I also dipped the bottoms in a bit of melted dark chocolate at the end.
Robin M
A nice, basic biscotti but the texture was a little dense for me. I added fennel seeds, orange zest, pine nuts, and left out the butter. NYT has a recipe for gingerbread biscotti and I liked that one better.
Kate M
This easily makes double the given amount. I have gotten 60 cookies out of this recipe. I can't imagine only cutting each of the logs into 8 cookies - they'd be really thick. It's very forgiving on mix ins. When I form into logs, I lightly wet my hands to keep the dough from sticking to avoid adding extra flour and generally shape them into a log in my hands and then finish shaping on the cookie sheet.
Tricia
I added candied orange peel instead of vanilla bean. Yum!
AW
Lovely straightforward recipe. I was skeptical about the amount of butter, but made as directed, and added chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. The cookies were a bit cakier and not quite as dry as traditional biscotti, but I thought they turned out well. If you want a more traditional biscotti texture, I would reduce the amount of butter and/or bake for longer than directed.
Emily
These were delicious, and so easy to make! I couldn’t find vanilla beans, so I used a full tbsp of vanilla extract as suggested. Also dipped them in dark chocolate. Will definitely make again with other add-ins!
Clancey
Subbed mine with black pepper and walnuts.
Vanessa Nunan
I baked this with my friends and we had a lovely time. One of my friends cut the biscuit into the shape of Napoleon, and he came to life when he came out of the oven, and joined us in the Christmas merriment. When it was time to leave, we all said goodbye to Napoleon and left him to his evening. When he turned his back on us, we bit into him and his shoulder crumbled under all of our teeth. He screamed. His pain made the biscuit a bit worse, but still, this was the best biscuit in a long time
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