Sharon's Almond Biscotti
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: Makes about 12 dozen
Ingredients
- 3½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, 2 egg yolks, and one egg white for brushing
- 2 cups granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons almond liqueur, such as Disaronno
- 1 tablespoon anise seed
- 4 cups coarsely chopped whole almonds
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle and upper positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat eggs, egg yolks, and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light, about 2 minutes; beat in vanilla, liqueur, and anise. Beat in dry ingredients and then almonds to form sticky but workable dough.
- Divide dough into four portions on a heavily floured board, rolling each portion into an approximate 15- by 2-inch log. Carefully transfer 2 logs to each baking sheet brushing each with egg white and sprinkling with sugar. Bake until pale golden and just beginning to crack, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Cool cookie logs on baking sheet until tepid, about 40 minutes. Keeping oven racks in position heat oven to 200 degrees. Slice logs diagonally ½-inch thick with a serrated knife, laying slices on baking sheets in single layer. (There will be enough cookies for 3 sheets.) Working 2 sheets at a time bake biscotti until crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. (Can be stored in airtight container up to 2 weeks.)
I saw a sneak-peek at this on Vimeo Saturday after watching the pumpkin bread video – I can’t wait to make these for the holidays! Perfect for all the ladies at work that I appreciate but can’t afford to buy gifts for.
Made your Almond Biscotti cookies yesterday and they are amazing. Great recipe. I did subsitute 1/2 the almond for cranberries and it worked out great.
Ooh! Love that idea. Thanks for sharing!
Biscotti are in the oven as we speak – phase 2. A couple of questions.
1. on the video, you made 2 “logs” versus 4?
2. any adjustments for altitude? Seems as though the first baking took about 5 minutes longer. For phase 2, it’s taking longer too. I did 4 logs – they spread out but didn’t rise much. That said, they are yummy 🙂
I love your recipes – the summer fruit tart was my “go to” dessert for most of the summer. Thanks!~
Hey Joanne,
Thanks for being in touch. I responded to the two vs. four logs in a previous question. You can do either– make 2 logs or 4. You just get a larger cookie with the bigger log. It could be altitude, it could slight differences in oven temps, but baking time does vary which is why there’s a range. If it’s longer, it’s OK. In both bakings, oven temperatures are low enough that the cookies won’t burn. The key is in the second baking. Make sure you bake the slices until they’re totally crisp. Otherwise they’ll go stale. Glad you like the biscotti… and the tart!
I made these yesterday. They are absolutely fantastic! I found the recipe and video to be very clear and easy to follow. Thanks for this wonderful recipe which I know I’ll use regularly.
So I just made these and I guess I misunderstood what you meant by “lower middle and upper positions” Can you please explain that step? I have 5 racks in my oven and I did it at number 2 and number 4 (right below middle and right above middle). Can you please explain the correct way?? Also, the second time around please verify where in the oven I would place them! Thanks!
You did it right. You don’t want to be on the bottom or the top rack and if you have 5 racks, it’s good for there to be a space between racks. So racks 2 and 4 are perfect.
My husband and I love them. Since there is only 2 of us can I freeze them? If I can would I freeze them after baking twice or unbaked?
Hey Ginger,
I’ve done both–frozen the logs and then sliced and baked and frozen the baked cookies. Both work. They also stay fresh in a tin for a long time too.
Hi Pam , I tried the biscotti recipe but I found it hard to slice them into thin slices and secondly how do I make them a little less hard and a little more softer ? any tips on that ?
The only thing I can suggest is that you remove the logs from the oven a little sooner. That might make the cookies easier to slice.
I know that butter will soften the cookies, but that’s a completely different formula! You might try reserving the egg whites for another use and increasing the egg yolks. But this is just a scientific guess, I’ve never tested it, but if you’re up for an experiment, it might just work.
Hello Sharon & Pam!
This recipe looks very authentic and I’m dying to try it (I too, have a Latin husband who is always eager for me to cook more!) A question please: clearly the oven temperatures in your recipe are in Fahrenheit? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I’ve a Celsius oven and just wanted to be sure.
Many thanks!
Good question, Alison. Yes, it’s Fahrenheit. Good luck with the conversion!
Can you substitute sliced raw almonds for the 4 cups of chopped whole almonds? If so would you recommend I lightly toast the raw almonds in a frying pan for a minute or two. Your almond biscotti recipe looks delicious and I would like to try it.
I really enjoy your website and all the great recipes!
Thanks
Hey Carol, I don’t see any reason why the sliced almonds wouldn’t work for the chopped whole. Toasting would bring out their flavor a bit, so yes! I tend to burn nuts when I toast them stovetop, so I usually do it in the oven! Good luck with the recipe, and thanks for your kind words!
I love this recipe – THANK YOU! I have tried a few other recipes, some that use butter, and I’m grateful this one doesn’t. Yummy, yummy!
hi,
how would the recipe turn out if it is 6 eggs instead of 4 eggs + 2 egg yolks? I didn’t want to have leftover egg white. Thanks in advance for your advice.
The biscotti would be crisper if you used 6 eggs rather than the 4 eggs and 2 yolks called for.
I just wanted to let you know that this is my ‘go to’ Almond Biscotti recipe. I’ve been making them to rave reviews after it was published in Relish magazine a million years ago. I’ve misplaced my original recipe and was thrilled to find it on your website.
Like most home cooks/bakers, I’ve adjusted the recipe a tad – I omit the anise, because I’m not a fan; instead of chopped almonds, I dump in a whole jar of Marcona Almonds from Costco and let the mixer chop them up for me; and lastly, after brushing the tops of the logs with egg wash, I sprinkle them with Sugar in the Raw OR use my Trader Joe’s grinder of chocolate, coffee beans and rock sugar. It gives the finished product a nice sweet crunch.
Thank you for posting this recipe on your website
Thanks for sharing your tips, Carrie!