BISCOTTI

By Tullio Bertini

 

INGREDIENTS:

Sugar                           1 and 1/4 cup

Butter or margarine       1 cube

Eggs                             3

Almonds, whole            1 cup

Flour                            3 cups

Baking Powder 1 and 1/2 tsp.

Vanilla                          2 tsp.

Anise seed (optional)    1 tsp.

Liqueurs (optional)        shot glass of Amaretto, Brandy, Anisette, or Sambuca, etc.

 

PROCEDURE (Preferred mixer:  Kitchen Aid)

 

  1. Place the sugar in the mixing bowl. Soften the butter (I place the butter in the microwave, on defrost, for 15 to 25 seconds). Place the butter in the mixing bowl, and blend the butter and sugar together by hand using the mixing paddle as a pastry blender.  When the butter and sugar begin to blend together, and the butter is broken up into small pieces, use the mixer to further combine the sugar and butter.

 

  1. Place the mixer on slow speed, add one egg at a time.  Increase the mixer speed and beat for about two minutes. The mixture should be smooth and fluffy.

 

  1. Add the vanilla, anise seeds, and liqueur (I usually add amaretto and brandy). With mixer on low, add the whole almonds.

 

  1. Mix the flour and baking powder, gradually add the flour to the mixing bowl, set on low speed. Note: If you do not have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, the mixer may not be able to handle the thick mixture.  If so, you may add the rest of the flour and mix by hand with a wooden spoon.

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a 12x18 cookie sheet or bun pan, coated lightly with butter.  Place some flour in the center of a breadboard. Mentally divide the mixture in 5 parts.  Scoop out of the mixing bowl approximately 1/5 of the mixture and place it on the flour.  Place some flour in your hands and roll out the dough into a roll about the width of your cookie sheet. The diameter of the roll will be about one inch.  Carefully transfer the roll to the pan starting at one end. Once in place, use you hand to flatten out the roll so that it is about 1/2 inch thick.  Repeat with the rest of the dough (you may make the biscotti larger or smaller, depending on your preference, by dividing the dough into more or fewer parts).

 

  1. Place on a rack in the center of the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until the loaves are lightly brown.  When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a minimum of 20 minutes.
  2. The next process involves cutting the loaves diagonally in strips about 3/4 of an inch wide, these will be the biscotti.  Use a serrated knife and slice the individual biscotti.  The term biscotto means twice baked, so the next process leads to baking again.  I have tried several methods, and the best in my estimation, is to place the slices, sliced portion down, on a wire cookie cooling rack. I space all the biscotti on two cooling racks.  One may also use a cookie sheet to re-bake the cookies, some times the baking time will vary.

 

  1. When I have placed the biscotti on the wire cooling racks, I position them in the oven on two racks and set the temperature on 325 and bake for 7 minutes, then I change positions on the upper and lower rack and bake again for 7 minutes (the time may vary according to your oven, you don't want to bake them too long, otherwise they get very brown).

 

  1. Remove from oven and cool. The biscotti will crisp up as they cool. If one likes biscotti that are very hard, instead of re-baking at 325 degrees, use a lower temperature for a longer period of time by experimenting, such as 300 degrees for 15 minutes, etc. When cool, store the biscotti in an air-tight jar for several weeks. One recipe makes about 60 biscotti and I store them in a gallon size glass jar.