Biscotti is an Italian twice baked biscuit originating from the city of Prato in Tuscany, Italy. It is often also called Biscotti di Prato.
Unlike common cookies, Biscotti are baked the second time to fully dry them out which gives it an extremely crunchy texture. Because of its dry nature, this cookie are often served with coffee or hot chocolate. I particularly love dipping mine in some coffee.
In this post, I will be sharing with you a basic plain vanilla biscotti drizzled with milk chocolate. Often time, this cookie are also made with dried fruit and or with nuts.
HOW ARE BISCOTTI BAKED?
The making of biscotti involves two baking steps. The wet dough is made and then spread out onto a tray to a flat even log. This wet dough will bake for the first time until it is firm enough to cut to individual slices.
The biscotti, on its first bake will start to spread slightly and puff up, thanks to the addition of baking powder and / or bicarb soda, which also helps with giving this biscuit and airy and light texture. The baked log is then cooled slightly before slicing to individual slices, and then lined and baked for the second time, flipping the biscuit over to its opposite side until they are baked thoroughly on both sides.
WHAT SHOULD THE TEXTURE OF BISCOTTI BE?
Biscotti should be hard and crunchy, which is the nature of this biscuit. Often time, they are served with hot drinks for you to dip them in!
WHAT ARE THE VARIATIONS THAT I CAN MAKE WITH THIS RECIPE?
There is so much you can do with this recipe. You can add mixture of dried fruit and nuts; add chocolate chips or dip/drizzle chocolate over the baked biscuit.
WHAT ARE THE SHELF LIFE OF BAKED BISCOTTI?
If kept well in an airtight container , baked biscotti can last up to 3 weeks to 2 months.
RECIPE
Yield : 20 biscotti
150 g Plain Flour
½ tsp. Baking powder
¼ tsp. Bi-Carb soda
¼ tsp. Ground cinnamon
½ tsp. Salt
100g Eggs
65 g Granulated sugar
25 g Packed brown sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste
100 g Chocolate chips, melted
METHODS
Whisk the eggs, vanilla bean paste and sugars together until well combined.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarb then add in the salt. Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. If you are using a stand mixer, simply mix with a paddle attachment until well incorporated and there are no lumps of flour in the mixture.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spread out the biscotti mixture to a flat and even log.
Bake in the preheated oven at 180˚C for 12 minutes or until it starts to puff up and feels firm to touch.
Remove the biscotti from the oven and leave to cool slightly. Being careful not to burn yourself, slice the biscotti to individual slices along the shorter ends to approximately 1.5cm thick.
Line the sliced biscotti, cut side up onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Lower the oven temperature to 160˚C and bake for 10 minutes, then turn it over and bake for another 10 minutes on the other side.
For a darker biscotti, simply bake slightly longer. The cookie should feel dry and crunchy when removed from the oven.
Once baked, transfer over onto a wire rack to fully cool.
Store in an airtight container.
