Mini Biscotti Recipe

My husband is not a big fan of sweets, he prefers to drink his coffee and maybe a couple of cookies on the side. This year for Father's Day I really wanted to make him some cupcakes, but I quickly realized that I would probably be eating the cupcakes by myself and wouldn't be much of a present for him. So I decided to make him biscotti. 

A classic biscotti is made with almond or amaretto extract, but that's not something I usually keep at hand, and the beauty of biscotti is that you can play with the ingredients and find what you like. I made this recipe using vanilla extract and I added walnuts to only half of the recipe to make plain biscotti as well. You can play with it and use any type of nut you like or change the extract for a totally different flavor. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of flour, plus extra for dusting.

2/3 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

3 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/2 cup of walnuts (optional) 

 

Makes about 28 mini biscotti

DIRECTIONS:

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

 

Place walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until just golden and aromatic. Remove and set aside. 

 

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and baking powder. In a small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla extract until well blended. Add to the flour mixture. Work the batter with floured hands. It will be sticky but keep working it until it forms a dough.

 

 

Next, you can either add 1/2 cup of walnuts to the dough or separate the dough into two equal parts and add  1/4 cup of walnuts to only one piece of dough. I decided to make one part plain and one part with walnuts. 

 

On a floured surface, place one piece of dough and using your hands, roll into a log shape that is approximately 10 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide. If it's sticky, simply dust your palms with more flour. Repeat with remaining piece of dough. Place two logs on a baking sheet.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through, or until the tops of the loaves are deep golden. Cool on a rack for about 20 minutes before slicing. Place a loaf on a cutting board. Using a large serrated knife, cut 3/4-inch-thick slices, either straight or on the diagonal. Use a sawing motion to prevent crumbling. Each loaf should yield 12-14 cookies. If the cookie is crumbling, then let it cool a few more minutes. Don't let it rest too long, however, or it could become too hard to slice.

 

Place slices on their sides back on to the baking sheets. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees, and bake biscotti for 30 minutes, until toasted and crisp. If you desire, you can turn off the oven and let the biscotti stay for up to an hour. The longer they stay in the oven, the harder they will become. Remove from oven and cool completely before storing in an airtight container, preferably a tin, which helps keep them crisp. Stored properly, biscotti will last up to a month.

 

 

Recipe adapted from : npr.org