Hi!
Do you like Biscotti? I think there is a notion that it is difficult to make, I want to dispel that rumor altogether. Making Biscotti requires a few more steps than a regular cookie, however the effort is worth the end result.
In case you are not familiar with Biscotti, it is a classic Italian cookie, the name bis is derived from Latin, meaning twice, these cookies are baked twice to achieve their signature crispiness. They have a long shelf life, I refrigerate mine, although they don’t last that long!
When I was a pastry chef at The Monterey Plaza Hotel in California, we would have welcome plates that were sent to the rooms on check-in. One of the sweet treats we made was Biscotti, along with Truffles and other delectables. The Biscotti recipe I am sharing today is a standard version, but so many variables can be made from the basic core ingredients. Also, many Biscotti can be very dry and pretty boring, I assure you the recipe here is far from that.
For a time I was making and selling 3 different Biscotti and 1 cookie to Whole Foods in Tampa, my line was a Key Lime, Cappuccino Chocolate and this traditional Biscotti with Anise as well as a gluten free Oatmeal Cranberry cookie. I was living in the Florida Keys at the time and leased out a church kitchen for production, it took me 1 year to bring the kitchen up to snuff to Whole Foods standards, multiple inspections,etc. Long story short, sales were going very well, I would travel to Tampa and showcase the cookies and hold giveaways a couple of times, everyone liked them. It was awesome to get the feedback directly from the consumer. After several months, I got the word that Whole Foods wanted to expand my product line and sell in the Florida market to however many stores I could handle to supply my products. Since I was a one man show, I decided to start with 4 stores in the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami market. This great news was just before Christmas, I was told there was a new Regional Pastry Department Manager that was based out of Ft. Lauderdale and I was directed to contact him after the holidays. I was super excited and started preparing by buying lots of product: chocolates, nuts, butter, etc in bulk.
After New Years, when things settled down from the holidays, I contacted the office and left a message. No word back, I again contacted the office leaving another message. This had been going on a couple weeks now, I don’t understand the lack of communication. Shortly afterwards, I receive a curt and perfunctory message that the new Manager has decided not to include my line in any more stores. WHAT? Talk about confused… as it turned out, and I found out much later (corporate never talked directly to me) Whole Foods was going through drastic reorganizing, apparently competitors like Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s were seriously cutting into their bottom line. So, the entire bakery department was downsizing much of their inventory. In fact if you go into a Whole Foods now, they barely carry any outside vendor baked products.
I just wished they would have relayed this decision before I spend many hundreds of dollars on expensive ingredients!
In the long run it was a blessing (as things often are, you just don’t know it at the time). I was spending a lot of time, always on my feet, churning out product and not for a big profit. That’s the other thing about Whole Foods (now Amazon), they took quite a large cut from my profits.
I have included links of the products I buy on Amazon, as suggestions….they represent the best products/prices I have found over the years. I use silpats for baking when I do not want things too crispy, and I use parchment paper for crispier products.
Hope you make these Biscotti, please leave me a note and let me know how they turned out.
Enjoy… Adrienne
Traditional Biscotti
Yield: Approx 20-24 Biscotti, depending on how thick you slice them, 1 inch is perfect!
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
½ c. brown sugar ( like to use brown sugar always, but you can use granulated)
1 t. vanilla
2 t. citrus zest, can be any combination: orange, lemon, lime
¾ t. anise seed or 1 t. anise extract
1/8 t. salt
2 large eggs
2 large t. baking powder
2 c. unbleached flour
½ c. sliced almonds
½ c. dried cranberries
Note: you can add more or use different fruit/nuts, if you wish, or omit altogether
Cream first 6 ingredients together, add eggs. Fold in the final 4 ingredients. Batter will be sticky to the touch. Place on baking pan lined with either a Silpat or parchment paper and shape into a log.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, batter will spread a bit. Insert toothpick into center (no crumb) to make sure the cookie log is baked through. If its not quite done, turn off oven and let it set for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Once cool, remove carefully to cutting board and slice into individual slices
Place each cookie on unlined baking sheet, bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flip cookies over and bake another 15-20 until nicely browned, don’t let them brown too far or they will be dry.
Seal cookies in air proof bag, can be room temp or refrigerated.