These crisp, crunchy and sweet, but not too sweet classic almond biscotti are the perfect pantry cookie for every cup of tea or coffee.
Biscotti, or cantucci, are these delightful twice-baked, oblong-shaped almond biscuits that originated in Tuscany, Italy. Because of the twice-baked nature and the fact that outside of Italy they are usually served with coffee, I often equate them with the South African Rusk.
These delightful cookies are traditionally enjoyed with a sweet dessert wine, such as Vin Santo, but outside of Italy, they are often dipped into a hot drink.
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What You Need for this Recipe
Equipment
This recipe requires a kitchen scale, mixing bowl, whisk, spatula, baking sheet(s) and a sharp knife. You can also make these biscotti using a stand mixer.
Almond Biscotti Ingredients
- Flour - plain, standard grade or all-purpose flour
- Baking Powder
- Eggs
- Salt
- Caster or granulated sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Butter
- Chopped raw almonds (almond slivers)
Please refer to the recipe card for details.
Making Almond Biscotti
Note - allow your ingredients to come to room temperature before baking.
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan. Line two baking sheets with parchment or baking paper. Set aside.
Step 2 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the room temperature butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add in the eggs and whisk until smooth and creamy.
Note - if your room temperature butter is a bit hard for this step, pop it into the microwave for 10-15 seconds, until soft enough.
Step 3 - Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and mix through using a silicon spatula or wooden spoon until you have a smooth dough. Pour in the chopped almonds and mix through.
Step 4 - Divide the dough roughly into two. Take one half and make a rough sausage shape (about 20-25cm long, 3-5cm wide) before placing it on the baking sheet. Once it is on the baking sheet, smooth out the dough and flatten it until about 2cm tall. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Note - wet your hands before handling the dough to stop it from sticking to your hands.
Step 5 - Bake for 30 minutes, the log will be very pale in colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Using a sharp chef's or Santoku Knife or even a serrated knife, slice the log either straight across or at a slight diagonal, approximately 1.5 to 2.5cm in thickness.
Step 6 - Place the sliced biscotti, bottom side down pack on the baking sheet and return to the oven for an additional 25 to 30 minutes. This will dry out the biscotti and give it a nice golden brown colour. Once baked, allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.
Pro Tips for this Recipe
All ingredients should be at room temperature. This helps the ingredients incorporate together more easily. However, if the butter is still a bit hard for the initial whisking process, pop the butter in the microwave in bursts of 10 seconds to soften but not melt the butter.
Wet hands help to keep sticky dough off the hands, and allow you to smooth the tops of the biscotti logs.
A conventional oven needs to be set at 20°C higher than a fan-forced or convection oven.
Oven temperatures are not consistent, the best way to determine if your oven dial is correct is to use an oven thermometer.
Substitutions/Variations
Substituting Plain/All-Purpose/Standard Grade Flour with Self-Raising/Self-Rising Flour: For every ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup/150 grams of plain flour, simply use self-raising flour and leave out the baking powder. For recipes needing more than 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup (150 grams) - add the additional baking powder per cup.
For this recipe, self-raising flour can be substituted out on a 1 to 1 basis for plain flour, meaning that 300 grams of self-raising flour can be used instead of plain flour. No extra baking powder is needed.
The almonds can be substituted with pecans, walnuts, or pine nuts.
Dip the finished biscotti into melted white, milk or dark chocolate for a little extra decadence.
I do not like almond extract and very rarely (if ever) bake with it. But if you want a bit more of an almond kick to these biscotti, add in just a quarter of a teaspoon (no more!) of almond extract.
Storage
Biscotti, because they are twice-baked or dry, keep at room temperature in an air-tight container for 2 weeks.
Almond Biscotti FAQ
Yes. Just be extra careful to not overmix the biscuit/cookie dough.
Yes. Biscotti are twice-baked, with most of the moisture being driven off the cookie. These cookies are meant to be dunked into a sweet wine, or a hot beverage before being eaten.
Biscotti originated in the city of Prato, which is found in the Tuscan Region of Italy.
These delightful cookies are traditionally enjoyed with a sweet dessert wine, such as Vin Santo, but outside of Italy, they are often dipped into a hot drink.
Twice-baking the biscotti drives off excess moisture, which allows these cookies to be stored for weeks at room temperature.
Mandel bread (Mandelbrot) is a twice-baked almond biscuit (almond bread) that is found within the Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. Mandel bread is usually made with oil instead of butter and is usually less dry and a bit richer.
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Almond Biscotti
Ingredients
- 90 grams butter
- 150 grams caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 300 grams plain flour
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup chopped raw almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan. Line two baking sheets with parchment or baking paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the room temperature butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add in the eggs and whisk until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and mix through using a silicon spatula or wooden spoon until you have a smooth dough. Pour in the chopped almonds and mix through.
- Divide the dough roughly into two. Take one half and make a rough sausage shape (about 20-25cm long, 3-5cm wide) before placing it on the baking sheet. Once it is on the baking sheet, smooth out the dough and flatten it until about 2cm tall. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Bake for 30 minutes, the log will be very pale in colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Using a sharp chef's or Santoku Knife or even a serrated knife, slice the log either straight across or at a slight diagonal, approximately 1.5 to 2.5cm in thickness.
- Place the sliced biscotti, bottom side down pack on the baking sheet and return to the oven for an additional 25 to 30 minutes. This will dry out the biscotti and give it a nice golden brown colour. Once baked, allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly.
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