Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Almond Biscotti – Because Winter is Coming

This biscotti video is another installment in our long-running series, “Recipes I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Posted Yet.” But, while I took my sweet time recording this classic Italian dipping cookie, at least I picked a good time to finally feature it, since winter is coming, and with it, plenty of cookie-appropriate occasions.

I decided to go with a very straightforward version, since that’s my personal favorite, but that doesn’t mean you can’t jazz these up in any number of ways.  Different nuts, like hazelnut and/or pistachio work beautifully in these, as does any type of dried fruit. And of course, dipping these in dark chocolate is never a bad idea.

By the way, don’t let that cup of sugar fool you. These are not particularly sweet cookies, and there’s a good reason for that. Traditionally, these are served to dip into sweet dessert wines, like Vin Santo, which is why we don’t want them too sugary to begin with. That’s also the reason why we really do want these crunchy all the way through.

I was pretty noncommittal with the cooking time once these are sliced and put back in the oven, since depending on the size and shape, your baking times will vary greatly. The best plan is to keep peaking at them once they get close, and wait for that perfect golden brown. So, with my apologies for bringing up the holidays so early, I’ll finish by saying I really do hope you give these almond biscotti a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for about 28-30 cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1/2 teaspoon kosher)
3 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup roasted whole almonds
1/2 cup roasted chopped almonds
- Bake loaves at 350 F., let cool 15 minutes before slicing, and then finish at 325 F. until golden brown, and crunchy

25 comments:

Unknown said...

How long would these typically keep for? I think I'll try making some this weekend with macadamias and orange zest!

Unknown said...

Can't wait to try this one. Chef John, can you do a video on cheese danish?

Angela said...

Just like my mom made them! In Italian the "O" is an "awh" sound in this word. English say "ahti".

Betsy said...

My husband is Italian and says that Biscotti should not be sweet. How much can I reduce the sugar in your recipe without ruining the cookie taste and texture?

Unknown said...

Wait a minute... you rent your place? It's right after the 8 minute 30 second mark.

bdwilcox said...

Not to be pedantic, but you asked; the Italians here in NJ pronounce it bis-coat with an accent on the second syllable.

Aleks Apostolov said...

Thanks for the recipe Chef John, just made a batch and they taste amazing!

Aleks Apostolov said...

Thanks for the recipe chef John, just made a batch and they taste amazing!

Dorian DemiGlace said...

Hi CJ,

That is a absolutly fantastic recipe, im drouling as per usual.

But i have an totally unrelated question. Last year you did a Tenderloin Roast, and you said you put up a bearnaise sauce recipe. You have a butterless bearnaise sauce, which is really impressive, but lets face it, if you make a tenderloin roast, you need butter in your sauce.

please please please can i have a bearnaise sauce recipe with butter? My Tenderloins are waiting

Unknown said...

In my Italian family it's "biscotti," as in "I like your videos a lotti" :)

Unknown said...

Have you ever made cheese buttons?

Unknown said...

This looks delicious, but it's one of my pet peeves when English speaking people call these biscotti. Biscotti just means cookie or biscuit (in British English). These are cantuccini.

Armymum said...

Chef John!!! I couldn't find where to request recipes for you to make/experiment with.... 2 things I have come across in the past week that I don't find on FoodWishes.... Dan-Dan Noodles & Chirashi. Could you please do some recipes for those????? Especially a "non-seafood" variation of the Chirashi???

From a Looooong time follower(2009?ish)/lurker.... :-)
Thank YOU!!!!

Unknown said...

Making these right now! "The best plan is to keep peeking* at them..."

Frank said...

The Wife tells me I will be making this.

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John,

there is a german saying "Kein Bier vor Vier" (no beer before 4 p.m.) but I like your version.
And your videos. And your blog in general. And your humour. So please keep going!

Best wishes from Berlin, Germany

Unknown said...

Peaking?

;)

Unknown said...

How could I bake half and freeze half of the dough to bake later?

Unknown said...

Can I please have the whole recipe measurments converted into grams? Thanks!

Christy Rogers said...

Hi, your recipe doesn't list how much sugar to put in. Is it a cup like the blog says?
Thanks

Caity said...

I wonder - could I switch out the regular flour for almond flour without ruining it? Don't want to change the texture and I'm not trying to go gluten free, I just happen to have a lot of almond flour to use up and this great recipe makes me wonder if it would add something interesting to the flavor.

Jeremiah said...

Chef John,

I also have a lot of almond flour I'm trying to find a good use for. Do you think this recipe would benefit from using at least partial substitution of almond flour, or do you think the texture might get too crumbly? Either way, I'm planning on trying these this weekend!

Monica said...

As I write I am baking my biscottis, I didn’t have almond extract so vanilla will have to do, I can’t wait to taste them!
I started to follow you Chef John a little while ago. I am very happy with everything I have tried, I must say everything has been a total hit!
Thanks for all your recipes!

maze said...

Thi recipe works really good. At first I made exactly the same recipe we loved it and second time I put half amount of flour and other half almond flour. It was really I mean really really good but you need to wait at least 10 minutes before to remove from pan. At third I added 1 Orange zest and little lemon juice,some nuts ohh Gosh this recipe is amazing! even my 4 years old loved it! Thank you chef!

Spike Page said...

I just made a batch...first biscotti I've made in perhaps 10 years, and it was superb. The plastic-wrap trick for shaping the loaf worked quite well too. Now I just need to find a chocolate biscotti variation of this.