Dishfunctional Designs: How To Make Delicious Homemade Biscotti: It's So Easy!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

How To Make Delicious Homemade Biscotti: It's So Easy!

Homemade biscotti is one of the easiest and most rewarding things that you can bake! It only takes a handful of ingredients and you'll be surprised how fast and simple it is to make.

Growing up, we never made our own homemade biscotti, so to me, biscotti has always been one of those fancy treats that we would occasionally buy. Then one day my sister decided to bake some herself, and the rest is history! We have been making our own biscotti ever since, and we make a batch every Christmas.

Homemade biscotti is also GREAT for giving as a gift! It looks so pretty packaged in cellophane bags and tied off with a ribbon. Add a gift tag and a package of your favorite coffee and you will have a thoughtful gift for your favorite coffee lover or cookie connoisseur.

Below is my favorite biscotti recipe, given to me by my sister. This recipe calls for almonds, hazelnuts and extracts, but you can substitute your own favorite flavors of extracts and add-in ingredients if nuts aren't your thing. This recipe calls for no oil or butter! I recommend using a heavy stand mixer if you have one, as this is a sticky and thick dough to work with, but it's so worth it in the end!

For this recipe, you will make the dough, shape into a long, flattened log shape, bake, slightly cool, cut into slices (dough will be baked but still soft so that you can cut it), remove slices from pan, and then toast the slices. That's it! I hope you love it!

Almond Hazelnut Biscotti Recipe

In a large mixing bowl beat:

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. anise extract

1 t. almond extract

Beat at high speed for ten minutes until the mixture forms a smooth ribbon when the beaters are lifted.

Sift together:

4 cups of flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

With mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture.

Stir in:

2/3 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Divide dough into two parts and shape each into a flattened oblong log.

This dough is ready to go into the oven. This is a large-sized cookie sheet.

Put logs on greased and floured baking sheets.

Bake in 325 degree F preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden.

Remove from oven. Loosen logs from tray and cool on tray for ten minutes.
Cut into 1/3" slices. Arrange slices on a baking sheet and bake at 275 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes.