Mark Bittman's Basic Biscotti
"I love Mark Bittman! This comes from "How to Cook Everything." This was my first time making biscotti, and they came out absolutely wonderful -- this was such an easy recipe. Best of all, he gives it not as a recipe, but as a template; you can essentially add anything and make whatever kind of biscotti you want. The only near-problem I found is that the 30 minute initial cooking time was too long for me; the edges of my logs were quite brown. Next time I'll try for 25-28 minutes, and go a full 20 minutes for the second round in the oven. The serving size is based on half biscotti; I got 24 very large biscotti, and consider half a cookie a serving."
- Ready In:
- 1hr 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
48
ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, unsalted, softened
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1⁄2 vanilla extract (or whatever flavor you want, I used a full teaspoon)
- 2 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
directions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated; add extract and beat until incorporated.
- Butter and flour two cookie sheets (or spritz 'em with baking spray; that worked well for me). Divide dough in half and shape each into a "log" about 2" wide. This will spread quite a bit during baking, so if you try to cram 'em on to one baking sheet, bear that in mind.
- Bake until logs are golden and beginning to crack on top. Bittman says this is 30 minutes; for me, it was closer to 25 minutes. (At 30 minutes mine were a little overdone.) Remove from oven and drop temperature to 250.
- When loaves are cool enough to touch, slice each into 1/2-inch slices, on the diagnonal. (You can always eat the little nubby ends that are left over!)
- Return the slices to the baking sheets and return them to the oven. Bake at 250 for another 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.
- Cool on wire racks.
- NOTE: Mr. Bittman makes lots of wonderful suggestions for variations. I threw in a cup of chopped blanched almonds and half a cup of currants, and used almond extract. You can throw in any spice you like (cinnamon, anise, nutmeg); a cup of nuts (almonds or hazelnuts); chocolate chips; citrus zest; crystallized ginger; dried fruit -- you can change the flavor of your extract to match. You can also wait until your biscotti are cool, and then top 'em with a chocolate glaze (4 oz. good chocolate mixed with 2 tablespoons butter and a little extract for flavoring).
- Enjoy!
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I am currently baking these but noticed the flour and baking soda additions were omitted from the directions. They smell wonderful -
The recipe here is completely different than Mark Bittman's recipe. Look up his recipe! -
the steps to add flour and backing soda were omitted. Also, I mide these into fat log rolls, as the directions say, and they didn't come close to cooking through in the middle. After cutting them and backing for an other 45 min (15 min more than called for) they were still not cooked through or dried out like biscotti is suposed to be. Save your self the time and trouble and find an other recipe.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>My husband and I live in Cambridge MA with our dog Archie. <br /> <br />I used to be a mediocre cook, with little interest in cooking ... then I joined Weight Watchers in Oct. 2006. I finally realized that to maintain my weight, I needed to find lots of extremely yummy, healthy foods that I enjoyed eating -- and the best way to do that is to learn to cook, and to learn to enjoy cooking. This web site has been 95% responsible for getting me there! <br /> <br />As of Oct. 2007, I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, having lost 70 pounds and weighing less than I've ever weighed as an adult. I owe a lot of it to the recipes I've found here! <br /> <br />Re: rating recipes -- I only give out five and four stars, and very occasionally three stars. I don't see any point in giving lower scores; I can't be sure a recipe has turned out badly because of something I've done. Besides, even if I don't like it, the next person might -- and if they see a one-star review, they'll never bother to try it. So I review the ones I've loved, and don't say anything about the ones that didn't work for me. <br /> <br />Hooray for vegetables! <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/200_PACpic.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e347/Saturn6666/KiwiDutch/3chefstag1.jpg alt= /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%203/ZWT3-Participation.gif alt= /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></p>
