Cooking For Engineers

[Guest]

How about eggless biscotti? Possible? My fiance has an egg alergy and cannot tolerate even a little of it .

[Guest]

For those with an egg allergy, try using soy flour in place of the egg. I think it's about 1 TB per egg plus 1 TB water. You can find soy flour in the local health food store. Good luck!

[TheOneEyedMan]

I made the cookies last weekend. I loved them, although I found that they got harder faster than other cookies I've made. I gave many of them to my family and they found it similar to madel bread. I looked up a few recipies for that and they seemed to user oil, which this recipie interestingly doesn't call for. I imagine that would keep them moister. Something to try later.

I wanted to mention that the picture directions at the top of the article don't explain when to add the zest. You have to look to the picture portion to see when to add them. You might want to fix that.

[beadaholic]

I have made these twice and am making these again now for my mother, they are wonderful. I grind up the almonds and add them ground to the mixture, I increased almonds to 1 cup, they are just yummy. I also have added in Cardomon, which is one of my favorite flavors.

[Guest]

I used self-raising flour (only had that - time to go shopping) instead of the flour, baking powder and salt, added anise powder instead of orange, and halved the size, and it still worked out. Thanks!

One thing to remember with cookies is that they will still cook when you take them out of the oven, so don't try to bake them well (especially important to get moist choc chips cookies). However, biscotti seem to want to be dry, as they are better dipped than eaten on their own.

By not adding oil/butter, this is a better recipe. Otherwise, you might get some oily surface when you dip them in coffee.

[diane]

Thanks for the great biscotti recipe. I noticed that the amounts of vanilla and almond extract were not listed in the recipe exept for in the graph at the end. I was glad to see the options you put in with the comments, as, even with favorite recipes, I like a little variety sometimes.

[micheyd]

I am an expert biscotti maker and I shudder at this recipe. It is definately "americanized". This recipe doesn't include the real secret to delicious biscotti. Biscotti is taken after a meal, the anise is meant to settle the tummy. Since anise and chocolate don't go, biscotti should not be dipped in chocolate whatsoever. Ever.

Nuts are always good, but as you point out, optional.

My question is where's the butter? I almost put my recipe here, but I couldn't bear to let the secret out.

I do have to compliment your "loafs" though.

[amh]

Please forgive the length of this message: In response to the person who wrote that he/she is an “expert biscotti maker”: while traditional biscotti does not have chocolate added to it, one can certainly be flexible and prepare it the way one pleases; with or without chocolate. In fact, I have sent several varieties to friends in Italy, and they love those with chocolate! I have always admired the flexibility shown by Italians… And, in Italy, biscotti are also enjoyed in the late-afternoon dipped in wine. To the person “who cares about grammar”: when one is speaking the language, of course, it’s important to use a word properly. However, in most languages, words “imported” from other languages tend to get slightly corrupted. And, if one wants to be consistent with the correct singular/plural usage, then we should write/say “Biscotto recipe”; “biscotto maker”, etc. In Italy, any type of hard cookie is referred to as “Biscotti” (Biscotto”!), while here and in other countries, we have come to regard “biscotti” as being only those cookies that are shaped, baked and then dried-out in the oven, as in the recipe above. (I found this definition on-line: Italian, from Medieval Latin bis coctus, twice cooked; see biscuit. But, as happens in language, the word is used today to describe a cookie.) So, let’s all relax, bake our biscotti – with or without chocolate! – and enjoy it whether we refer to it as “biscotto” or “biscotti”!!! Thank you for a very interesting site!

[PittsburghJoe]

Since when does Starbucks have anything to do with quality of baked goods? Puleeeeze. They can't even do muffins, let alone biscotti.

Chocolate dipping is fine. As long as it's good chocolate.

Btw, anise and chocolate go together extremely well in mole sauce.

Now there's an idea... a chipotle pumpkin biscotti in dipped bittersweet chocolate with sesame seeds... hmmm.

[Joyce]

I wanted to say thank you for the recipe for Biscotti. My husband is on a gluten free diet due to celiac disease, so I am always looking for new ways to do things. I made a few substitutions on the recipe such as instead of regular wheat flour I used a baking mix for gluten free diets. The mix I use has ground almonds in it so no need to add additional almonds unless your into a much nuttier taste. I also do not dip my Biscotti in chocolate as I use the Biscotto bisquits as a base in other recipes such as ground up and used in place of graham cracker in cheese cake crusts. The possibilities are endless.
Thanks again

[miss vicki]

Chocolate Chunk Biscotti
4-6 ounces blanched almonds
2 1/2 cups flour
1-2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp amaretto creamer
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks chopped

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread almonds on a baking sheet and toast them in oven until lightly golden. Let cool. Coarsely chop half the nuts.

Mix together sugar and eggs, beating well until the color of the mixture is light yellow and fluffy. Add vanilla, almond extract and creamer (use milk if you don't have the creamer). In a separate bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder. Beat flour into egg mixture and then gently fold in the toasted almonds (hold out a few almonds for topping) and the chocolate chips.

The consistency should be doughy but it will still be a bit gooey. Remove to a floured surface and knead briefly, then divide 2-4 pieces. Roll each piece into a cylinder 10 inches long and about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Press down to flatten them into an oval shape about three inches across. Press slivered almonds into top, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Place the rolls on each baking sheet and bake 15 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes, and then with a spatula, carefully transfer the rolls to a cutting board and slice each one diagonally into cookies about 1/2-inch thick. Return the slices to the oven, with one cut side facing up. Turn them over after about 10-15 minutes. Continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, or until very firm and crisp. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Cherry Biscotti
See above ingredients (minus the chocolate chips)
1/2 cup finely chopped, well-drained marascino cherries
2 tbsp unsweetened powdered cocoa

Follow the recipe as described above, right up through the addition of the almonds. Instead of chocolate chunks/chips, fold in cherries and cocoa.

Since I added the powdered cocoa at the end, it wasn't fully blended, and the result was a sort of marbled look which I liked. But if you want a darker, more even look, combine the cocoa with the sugar and eggs and beat together to get an even texture/color.

Enjoy!

[merry]

any problem substituting all purpose unbleached flour in this terrific recipe?

[Michael Chu]

[anonymous baker]

I stand my sliced biscotti on their flat bottoms when they go into the oven to get dried out. This saves the step of having to pull them out and flip them all over and stick them back in the oven. Plus they take up less space that way too!

Thanks for an awesome website!

[Guest]

Careful with the amount of flour when making these biscotto, a full two cups could make them hard as a rock, as was the case when I made my first batch. A little less made them much better, especially subsituting with poppy-seeds and lemon rine...